I may also go to jon_bondy's meetup in Burlington this month.  Not as easy since it's a weekday evening; the timing doesn't fit well at all with me getting home from work, dealing with the animals, and getting back out.  But it's another possibility.

The lulzbot Taz also looks interesting, but that's way more than I think I can spend.  Nice big print area, but single extruder.

If I can't sell my SD3, though, it's going to be a while before I can drop that kind of money again.

This weekend, I intend to make another stab at trying to deal with the problem by doing all the known calibrations again.  Bed level, especially.  Also to try printing a different design than the one I've been doing -- I've printed four of this item successfully before the clogs (that led to the E3D (that led to the power supply replacement (that led to the stepper motor adjustments))) but trying to print the fifth has been failing for more than a month, but maybe printing something else will reveal something.  Finally, filming the attempt to print so I can try to catch it in the act and see if something's happening that gives a clue.  Also spending some time playing with RH and firmware settings related to the park/home issue.  But if none of that gets me anywhere, I really am out of things to try, that are within my abilities.  Maybe at the meetups jon_bondy runs, I can sound out if anyone else around Vermont could look at it for me?  And if not... end of the line, I think.

http://www.lulzbot.com/?q=news/reviews
http://www.amazon.com/Aleph-Objects-Inc … B00AO6KDX4
http://makezine.com/2013/04/25/being-a- … akerspace/

The lulzbot... it's hard to take seriously something with that name, but I try to ignore that.  But their site doesn't give me the impression that it's something you can plug in and start printing -- half the things on there are replacement parts.  I'll have to look into what the users talk about and see if it feels like something I can fit in with.

I agree, don't think I can take the Cube seriously.  I mean, I could live with paying more per filament if I didn't keep paying more for parts -- at least when I'm paying for filament I get stuff out of it.  But it seems like you're getting yourself into more of a cage than just the limited filament sources.

Hazer, the reason I don't think it's just a matter of getting a lemon is that none of these problems have been related to one another.  Honestly, when I was at two months I would probably have been saying the same things you are, since I was just getting over my growing pains and actually getting to print stuff.  I hope that doesn't mean you're on the same track I am, but if so, I'm sure you'll be better equipped to handle it.  Anyway, any of the things I've had to do so far, even all of them put together, would not bother me at all if they led me to a device that I could use to 3D print.  I was and still am willing to do all this stuff, even if it's a bit more than I would have chosen.  It's that I'm no closer than I was $250 and two months ago that kills it, that's all.

Heartlander... dude... you know that vent system you put to direct the flow of the PLA particulate out of your printer?  You were supposed to face it away from yourself, not use it to mainline the stuff.  Listen to the four-dimensional pixies, they're trying to tell you something important.

But when the unit arrived, I unboxed and was at least relieved that there were not broken parts like so many youtube/reviews had reported. But I was not impressed seeing some of the design choices made. Considering the precision of what to expect for output, I was having a hard time seeing how something that wobbled so much could do it.

But I went through the motions. My first problem was downloading the current version of Repetier 3 weeks before ordering a printer. Once I realized I needed the SD3 version, and loaded everything up things went pretty smoothly.

I did my calibrations. I printed out some test parts. I printed out all of the modification pieces and bought the hardware to do all of the upgrades everyone talks about here. But guess what? I stopped at the plexiglass enclosure and mirror clamped to the bed. This leaves my solidoodle still all stock. I have the parts to upgrade the Z axis and replace the X/Y carriage. I even have extra electronics to replace the motherboard and be able to upgrade to DRV8825 drivers. But the funny thing is, I dont really need them. Even with the bed wobbling like crazy when I nudge it, I have no Z wobble or banding. Of course, a mid-print lifting or bad overhang does get a nozzle bump form time to time that shifts the print slightly but thats expected from a tough print job. I also have moire effect from the extruder motor, but it is liveable.

What I am trying to say is, I think you have got more of a bum unit. Sad to say. I was expecting to go through everything you have gone through, and found that there was not really a need for it. I have all the parts sitting here, and quite frankly its not worth the time (and downtime) and effort to get such a small payback. But if your printer has been nothing but trouble causing you to fix and fix, then I would say there is a fundamental difference between your printer and mine. I am no expert. All I can say is, I have had none of the problems you have had and I am no more experienced than you are. I may be more of a tinkerer but that has had no part. All I have done is cut some polycarbonate and perform the standard calibrations.

This leads me to believe that any printer 'step up' will be a more pleasant experience for you.

But before it was always YOU who were bucking ME up. You, the great hunter, leading me through the wilderness and into the parking lot. You who were never quite too drunk to drive. And now this.

I tell ya, I don't know what to tell ya. If you've lost the will to live, the drive to go one, one more hill, one more battle, one more day... then perhaps we should all throw it in.

It could have been me writing those words. Remember? Six weeks ago, when I was standing on the creek bank with my Solidoodle tied around my neck, ready to throw myself in to those six cold, dark, murky inches of water - to end it. The frustration, the tears, the shame. But you, you were there to talk me out.

No... wait. No, no you were the one with the popcorn. That's right! You bastard! Shouting to hurry the hell up, Golden Girls was about to start. Yeah, that WAS you.

Well, go on. Get on with it. There is no hope, you know that. DO IT. Just let me get my popcorn first.

I think you would be too spoiled by the Solidoodle to get a Cube and start paying $50 for .5kg of plastic.

http://www.skymall.com/cube-3d-printer/ … mp;start=1

Part of it is my own frustration with the fact that, while I've had it about seven months, I've probably had it in a state where it could actually print for less than one month of that.  Pretty nearly every part of it has caused a problem at some point.  The last two months or so I've been on this seemingly unending chain of problems, each of which gets to a recommendation of some "fix" that depends on a difficult, possibly expensive upgrade that is challenging for me; and every time I successfully complete such an upgrade, or do some fix or calibration or test, either the problem isn't solved, or there's just another one, which leads to another recommendation for another challenging, expensive, lengthy upgrade.  It's always "just one more upgrade".  (Sure, maybe I really am just one more fix, one more upgrade, one more calibration from being able to print.  There's got to be some point where that's true.  Just gets harder to believe it's now, when I've been told that over and over and over.)

And part of it is the sense that I've worn out my welcome.  You guys were willing to put up with me asking stupid questions, not knowing stuff you've all known for so long you don't remember ever not knowing it, not being ready to take plunges that seemed alarming to me but that were easy-peasy to you.  You patiently explained things and helped me along.  I promised, and every chance I got I fulfilled that promise, that I would pay it forward by helping people who were one notch below me on the tinkering-savvy scale; but most of that promise is unfulfilled simply because I never got to where I actually felt like I could do this stuff.  And now it seems like people are increasingly less ready to put up with me still needing help.  (Believe me, I'm no happier about it than you are, quite the contrary.)  People are short with me (and I've been short with them too, out of frustration -- I owe more apologies than I'll ever be owed, that's for sure, I'm not claiming otherwise), and it seems like I can't really get help that's focused enough to have one bit of advice built on remembering the previous steps anymore.  And that is a showstopper for me because I'm in so far over my head that without the lifeline of that kind of coherent, extended advice, I'm just lost.

So I figure I made a mistake to try this.  It was a bit too far for me.  What I really wanted, all along, wasn't to learn how to calibrate belt tension, replace motors, or install extruders; what I wanted was to design objects and print them.  I was willing to get through the bleeding-edge stuff outside my comfort zone to get there, as long as it actually was getting me there, but it seems that it isn't; at my skill level, the only thing I can make with an SD3 is a slightly less broken SD3.  The SD3 is not, at least for me, to the point yet that the hobby of having one is about designing and printing things.

Ultimately the answer is probably that nothing on the market is quite ready for anyone to just plug it in and start printing, all the marketing speak notwithstanding.  The technology isn't there yet.  But I imagine that there's a trade-off between how much closer to that you can get, and how much you spend.  I can obviously handle some of the mechanical and electrical tinkering; I'm not expecting any printer will have zero of that.  But is there something out there that requires, say, a third as much as my SD3 has required from me?  And if so, which?  Because maybe I should be starting to save up for that.

Some of you have experience with a lot more printers than I do.  Maybe you can recommend one that's more realistic for me.

tl;dr version: What's a good 3D printer that suits someone for whom the SD3 is too finicky and demanding of mechanical skill, but who can still do some of the tinkering it requires, but is still at least nominally consumer-affordable?