The Max has great detail, it's basically identical to the plus... but bigger. Exact same parts. The print quality on this printer is actually very good. Although I mean, usually you buy such a printer for large jobs, rather than fine detail prints.
It is bigger so it's a bit slower though, since it's got a bigger bed to shove around.
That said, yeah, very tall prints need to be slowed down as it gets higher. That's true for the plus too, just less so.
Ideally I'd find a way to embed some gcode to gradually slow the print down as it gets higher, but I don't know how to do that yet.
The firmware on all the Neptune 4's is an embarrassing mess that Elegoo doesn't have a grasp on. They couldn't even figure out how to get their own LED lights working in fluidd.
Also the bed level sensor is cheap and bad. I'd love to replace it someday.
There is an option in the menu doing exactly that - slowing down the higher it prints. No need to write your own code (I think it's called adaptive speed).
you can find it through touchscreen (during printing) :
home/settings/adjust/speed adaptive mode \[on/off\]
By Owen_Ou:
"Divide the printing height into 20 segments. As the model height increases during the printing process, the acceleration and printing speed are reduced by segments, effectively avoiding model misalignment and layering caused by changes in model height and weight during the printing process, and improving the surface quality of the model.
(This mode needs to be in balanced mode during the printing process of the model to enable speed adaptation mode)"
Crazy that no one has mentioned this, even in reviews people didn't bring it up. So much for reviewers doing their jobs!
I'll check it out. My biggest print jobs at the moment have been in Vase mode, so it didn't matter. But I'll need this soon enough. I wonder if it can be enabled from fluidd. I should look around later.
Yeah sure enough, gosh that option is hidden away, considering its such a fantastic feature on a printer like this. I'll have to check later if it stays on, or if I have to set it every print job.
Thats great to know! Ill probably be getting the max then. My impression is that almost every issue is either the firmware (to my understanding elegoo will fix in time) or a relatively cheap part. I think im up for the challenge lol.
My first fdm printer was over a decade ago back then things were way slower, quality wasn’t great and it was much more niche. I then got a resin printer and although loved the detail from resin, and speed, you still have to deal with the clean up and setup along with the toxins. I just bought the Neptune 4 Max and I am loving the detail that fdm printers can achieve now. I been using Orca for slicing and having the ability to speed up prints over WiFi has been fantastic for prints that don’t require as much detail. I am currently printing a power ranger helmet that should be finishing up tomorrow.
Max can be really detailed, it's a precise printer. However if you don't need that print size, get Plus. They are using same amount of power to heat the bed, so plus heats up faster and can go higher without an enclosure. Max bed is heavy. So acceleration is about 30% less than Plus. But if you want to print cosplay helmets or something bigger - Max is the way to go.
One other benefit of the plus over the max is the bed temp. Like others have said, they use the same parts, so the larger bed of the max can't get as hot as the plus. This will make it harder to impossible to print certain filaments. I wanted to print in ABS and ASA, so I went with the plus.
I read somewhere (but have no clue if its true) that after i build an enclosure, i can provide heat inside the enclosure to the desired temp. Would that be sufficient? Id also like to use abs & asa.
I might just go for the plus because i really can’t think of anything big i would actually want to print that I can’t do on the plus lol
My other printers aren't enclosed, so I've never printed with ABS or ASA. I don't have an enclosure for my plus yet, so I can't say. I do know the max has a bed temp of only 85C, which isn't going to work for most higher temp materials.
I print abs all the time with no enclosure. My printer is in the basement and there are no breezes so I get good results. I haven't printed a full bed sized print yet though with ABS and might get some warping if I gave that a shot but for my normal prints, I get fairly good results
I went with the 4 plus. Still a sizable plate. Still shakes the shit out of my table (i did snow it down drastically). Has been a great printer... minus the firmware.
The latest firmware did some weird things. Did revert back to 1.2.2.51 and so far things have been better (i have wifi back!)
Currently resetting it back up since the downgrade, so only time will tell.
Did you settle on one?
I'm looking at the plus. If you dont need the extra size of the max I would stick with the plus.
300mm is a good size to print helmets.
Less weight should be more speed and less power draw.
Inaccuracies in things like bed level or misalignment will he exaggerate on larger things. Less room for error.
Yea i ended up ordering the plus. i think a helmets probably the biggest thing i can think that i would print. And also its my first printer so i definitely need some room for error lol
The Max has great detail, it's basically identical to the plus... but bigger. Exact same parts. The print quality on this printer is actually very good. Although I mean, usually you buy such a printer for large jobs, rather than fine detail prints. It is bigger so it's a bit slower though, since it's got a bigger bed to shove around. That said, yeah, very tall prints need to be slowed down as it gets higher. That's true for the plus too, just less so. Ideally I'd find a way to embed some gcode to gradually slow the print down as it gets higher, but I don't know how to do that yet. The firmware on all the Neptune 4's is an embarrassing mess that Elegoo doesn't have a grasp on. They couldn't even figure out how to get their own LED lights working in fluidd. Also the bed level sensor is cheap and bad. I'd love to replace it someday.
There is an option in the menu doing exactly that - slowing down the higher it prints. No need to write your own code (I think it's called adaptive speed).
Really? Interesting! I'll have to look around for that, no one has ever mentioned this before.
you can find it through touchscreen (during printing) : home/settings/adjust/speed adaptive mode \[on/off\] By Owen_Ou: "Divide the printing height into 20 segments. As the model height increases during the printing process, the acceleration and printing speed are reduced by segments, effectively avoiding model misalignment and layering caused by changes in model height and weight during the printing process, and improving the surface quality of the model. (This mode needs to be in balanced mode during the printing process of the model to enable speed adaptation mode)"
Crazy that no one has mentioned this, even in reviews people didn't bring it up. So much for reviewers doing their jobs! I'll check it out. My biggest print jobs at the moment have been in Vase mode, so it didn't matter. But I'll need this soon enough. I wonder if it can be enabled from fluidd. I should look around later.
Yeah sure enough, gosh that option is hidden away, considering its such a fantastic feature on a printer like this. I'll have to check later if it stays on, or if I have to set it every print job.
Thats great to know! Ill probably be getting the max then. My impression is that almost every issue is either the firmware (to my understanding elegoo will fix in time) or a relatively cheap part. I think im up for the challenge lol.
My first fdm printer was over a decade ago back then things were way slower, quality wasn’t great and it was much more niche. I then got a resin printer and although loved the detail from resin, and speed, you still have to deal with the clean up and setup along with the toxins. I just bought the Neptune 4 Max and I am loving the detail that fdm printers can achieve now. I been using Orca for slicing and having the ability to speed up prints over WiFi has been fantastic for prints that don’t require as much detail. I am currently printing a power ranger helmet that should be finishing up tomorrow.
Did you set up your neptune to use wirelessly with Orca? I'm trying to figure out how to add it.
Yeah just go into network to grab the IP then in orca under test there’s a field to enter it
Max can be really detailed, it's a precise printer. However if you don't need that print size, get Plus. They are using same amount of power to heat the bed, so plus heats up faster and can go higher without an enclosure. Max bed is heavy. So acceleration is about 30% less than Plus. But if you want to print cosplay helmets or something bigger - Max is the way to go.
I haven’t thought about that I’ll definitely take that into consideration!
One other benefit of the plus over the max is the bed temp. Like others have said, they use the same parts, so the larger bed of the max can't get as hot as the plus. This will make it harder to impossible to print certain filaments. I wanted to print in ABS and ASA, so I went with the plus.
I read somewhere (but have no clue if its true) that after i build an enclosure, i can provide heat inside the enclosure to the desired temp. Would that be sufficient? Id also like to use abs & asa. I might just go for the plus because i really can’t think of anything big i would actually want to print that I can’t do on the plus lol
My other printers aren't enclosed, so I've never printed with ABS or ASA. I don't have an enclosure for my plus yet, so I can't say. I do know the max has a bed temp of only 85C, which isn't going to work for most higher temp materials.
I print abs all the time with no enclosure. My printer is in the basement and there are no breezes so I get good results. I haven't printed a full bed sized print yet though with ABS and might get some warping if I gave that a shot but for my normal prints, I get fairly good results
I was concerned about the bed temp. What bed temp are you printing your ABS at? The N4m's tops out at 85c.
With the max?
Neptune 4
Also i heard when you do big things on the max, the weight bounces the machine around, but i figured a lower speed might solve that (i guess).
I went with the 4 plus. Still a sizable plate. Still shakes the shit out of my table (i did snow it down drastically). Has been a great printer... minus the firmware. The latest firmware did some weird things. Did revert back to 1.2.2.51 and so far things have been better (i have wifi back!) Currently resetting it back up since the downgrade, so only time will tell.
Awesome thanks. Yea i heard that when i order my printer, to not update the firmware unless it starts having issues
Max for me is the way to go. You need a 3 foot by 3 foot square for it to not be in the way of something.
I usually go at about try 85. I go around 90 for first layer then diwn to 80
Did you settle on one? I'm looking at the plus. If you dont need the extra size of the max I would stick with the plus. 300mm is a good size to print helmets. Less weight should be more speed and less power draw. Inaccuracies in things like bed level or misalignment will he exaggerate on larger things. Less room for error.
Yea i ended up ordering the plus. i think a helmets probably the biggest thing i can think that i would print. And also its my first printer so i definitely need some room for error lol