I'm new to resin printing but very experienced at FMD printing and I have been keenly looking at the Jupiter 2 since its announcement…which turns out has been such a long time that I now have to really consider all the other options that are now available and I must say I've come away with concerns.
I've already pre ordered the J2 but I'm very tempted to switch to the P1 max from any cubic and I'm wondering if anyone has any insight into either that might help me make the best decision for my business.
My concerns are mainly:
The pump system seems unnecessary? Potentially a source of malfunction or error and may or may not require a level of cleaning I just don't see as being worth the time saving compared to just having a larger vat like the P1.
Locked to a slicer that seems to have its own amount of issues. So deeply suspicious of that although I might be misinformed.
Why on earth is the J2 build height greater than the max removable height? This seems insane and a very good way to accidently damage things.
Build materials; i run a FDM print farm, i like machines that are dependable and robust. I don't have time to keep fixing a “project” printer. It just doesn't seem as well thought out and put together as I was hoping for. Is the build quality generally good and long lasting on elegoo machines ?
size/ease of use: printer foot print vs actually required operating footprint is huge. I don't really care about power access at the back. I'll just use a wifi switch but the resin is stored at the back when in pump mode. That seems bizarre and difficult to fill if I want to rack mount this next to other printers where i dont have rear access.
Smaller build volume: originally i just wanted what was ever biggest but the J2 isn't even that now. Overall the P1 max has more volume if different dimensions, and very different dimensions given you can't extract prints that are full size from the J2.
The relatively minor issues with the J2 that I've seen (although some would say major) have left me genuinely concerned about the integrity of the rest of the printer.
I mean if you screw up on just print extraction how on earth can i be confident the rest of it is not also full of badly implemented ideas and solutions that will also produce emergent failures down the line?
Ive not bought a resin printer before so i dont have any real brand loyalty i know honestly nothing about either company or there pedigree and i like to give people the benefit of the doubt but boy am i having a lot of doubts, has anyone already taken delivery of a J2 and can experience some real world human use that would be appreciated.
Any insight would be helpful.
Honestly the fact they went with a trap screw instead of a ball screw given how cheap ball screws are now even if it was only a lower grade one is also deeply concerning. Why are we using a screw design that has backlash when very cheap alternatives exist? and on a £800 machine no less? For one screw? I mean really? That can't be right. Honestly that one cost saving measure is making me lean towards the P1 max more than any other issue with it. I just have a lot of experience with lead screws and just do not use a trap screw unless you're concerned about stuff getting on the screw. I mean I assume we don't have a linear encoder running down the back of the machine for the rails so it honestly has no business being a trap screw.
i know what it costs to get them and there is no way they sacrificed the longevity of the repeatability of the Z travel to save literally less than £10 even, you can get a cheap c7 screw these days for so little that the only people using a trap screw are the kind of people trying to make money at the cost of quality. So that's really damning for me anyway. But I am open to insight offered by people with more real world or even theoretical experience than me.
I really hope there is something i am missing so i can stay my course but right now i do not possess that confidence.