A Review of the Monoprice Select mini 3D Printer

Hi my name is Jacob and I just wanted to share my opinion about a 3D printer I just recently just bought for my nephew. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), refers to processes used to create a three-dimensional object, in which layers of material are formed under computer control to create an object.Objects can be of almost any shape or geometry and are produced using a digital model data from a 3D model or another electronic data source such as an Additive Manufacturing File (AMF) file. The technology is fairly recent and new breakthroughs and programs almost seem to happen daily. There are many applications where 3D printing can change a business, a hobby, make prototypes, working tools, in the medical fields, architecture, educational projects just to name a few. Here are a few pics of work done with 3D printers.

Like most people I’m a novice to this technology and don’t’ know much about it. My nephew who just graduated High School wanted one as a Graduation gift. I had no idea about them and assumed they would cost above what I would pay for a gift. So of course I did a lot research and found out that  there were many very nice starter kits for under $500. Then I went to check out Amazon because they sell everything and found that they had a Monoprice Select mini 3D printer for only $220. Now what I was looking for was a high grade with customer reviews. This one had a 4 out of 5 stars and was the only AMAZON’S CHOICE  3D printer. I found 3 reviews that were very informative and prepared me to purchase this highly valued product.

Very helpful and trouble shooting review:

5 stars
February 28, 2017 
By Amazon Customer 
Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Monoprice Select Mini 3D Printer with Heated Build Plate, Includes Micro SD Card and Sample PLA Filament - 115365 (Electronics)

Ok I just received this printer and so far it's amazing! However I've noticed some people on youtube or other places that shows them having a bit of trouble setting it up so if you're planning on getting this printer use the following steps to have an awesome experience.

0.) Order a spool of Hatchbox 1.75mm Filament to either arrive before or at the same time as the printer. (The sample PLA included isn't enough for anything)
1.) The VERY first thing you do is use an X-acto knife to cut away the corners of masking tape covering the bed screws! LIKE I SAID THE VERY VERY FIRST THING!
2.) Use the provided Allen Key to lower the bed at each corner TWO full turns!
3.) Remove the tape from the hot end (NOT THE YELLOW TAPE AT THE NOZZLE) but the one that holds the hot end in place for shipping
4.) Plug in the power supply and turn it on
5.) Navigate to "Move>Home" and home the printer and guess what? The nozzle won't dig it's way into the print bed because what? YES we lowered the bed first!
6.) TURN THE PRINTER OFF!
7.)Now use a strip of regular typing paper and gradually start to raise each corner while checking the tension on the paper until you feel some resistance but not too much. In other words like a guitar we tune up not down!
8.) DO NOT UPDATE THE FIRMWARE UNLESS YOU NEED TO TO TROUBLESHOOT LATER ( In spite of what some gurus say on youtube)
9.) Take your SD card, load a test Gcode from Thingiverse (Print something you'll actually use like the New Dial for the MP select mini on thingiverse) it takes 26 minutes to print (NOT THE CAT! it takes too long!)
10.) After each print leave the filament in the nozzle and never try to pull it out once it cools because you'll break the hotend! To switch filament (Empty spool or different color) Preheat to 210 wait for it to reach that temp, extrude a little bit and then pull it out from up top)

I wish this info was put together in one place like this when I was reading reviews, It took me like 4 weeks to gather all the steps.

NOW stop thinking about it and just order it!, a year ago you'd have to spend over $500 to get a printer this good.

Here is a critical review:

3 out of 5 stars Can't beat this for the price !EDITTED!, January 13, 2017 
By Richard Smith
Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Monoprice Select Mini 3D Printer with Heated Build Plate, Includes Micro SD Card and Sample PLA Filament - 115365 (Electronics)

Can't beat this for the price. The quality of the prints are amazing as is the build quality, I can't understand the price being so low...

Edit: I have ran into a few issues since I bought it, so I knocked off a couple stars. Listing them below:

1. Since the gantry is only supported on one side, and it will eventually begin to sag to the right. Unsupported, the gantry sags so much the right side of the build plate had to be tightened all the way down to become level. This was corrected by buying a 6mm rod and linear bearing and 3d printing a gantry support. There are a few different models on thingiverse to choose from.
2. The bed heating is VERY underpowered, and only makes it safely to 70c(60c from the UI). When printing over USB, the print will not appear to start on the LCD until the bed heats up, which is very non-user friendly, and may make people the printer is broken. I don't know any fixes for this other than patience.
3. The stock hot end is only good for PLA, and is prone to jamming due to a gap being between the PTFE tubing feeding into the heatsink and the hot end's heat break. This can be reduced by butting the ptfe tubing into the heat break, but never totally eliminated. I ended up replacing the hot end entirely with an E3D V6 hotend with an all metal heat break, and have been very happy with the upgrade. Highly recommended. I also recommend using the 'Zero Offset' mounting kit for the E3d V6 off of thingiverse.
4. The metal digs into the wiring where it feeds out of the top of the printer and will eventually cut through a wire. The fix is to use a better cable wrap, like one of those braided cable wraps.
5. This printer is too troublesome to disassemble for general maintenance. It makes no sense for there to be so many unnecessary screws to get the panels off.
6. The aluminum bed will warp on you, as this is what aluminum does. This will cause things like the edges of the print being too close to the nozzle, while simultaneous the middle of the bed being too far from the nozzle, a piece of glass to sit on the bed will correct this. Which leads to my next point.
7. There is no way to offset the z-stop stock(so you can raise the home position of the hot end). You have to 3d print a spacer for the job, which is quite silly.
8. The temperature reading is inaccurate, and there is no way to fully calibrate it, meaning you have to figure it out yourself for each filament.
9. The stepper driver for the extruder has tendencies of overheating, I assume because the stepper is a bit weak for the job. However, upgrading the extruder body with a MK8 aftermarket body with an adjustable filament grip pressure, and adding a cooling fan to the stepper driver heatsink will fix your problem. This leads to my final point.
10. The header on the mainboard meant for a stepper cooling fan is faulty, the mosfet for it was soldered the wrong way around... This means you have to run the fan at 100% all the time instead of it being temp controlled, which can be a little annoying to listen to.

Here was a very complete and honest response to that review:

froggyfrog says:

I have had this printer for about 2 months now and have come across some of the issues that Richard listed as well. Here is my exp:

1. My gantry had some play until I did the rod stabilizer mod, now it is quite solid and I have not been able to detect any sag, maybe I will in the future. Cost of rod mod: basically zero, time: 30min to install
2. The bed heater is weak and this printer should not be listed as ABS compatible, however, it has a heated bed which is a huge plus at this price point and it works perfect for PLA. With all the options for PLA nowadays I'm not sure many ppl will miss ABS.
3. You can eliminate the gap by loosening the little set screws and moving the hot end up in the heat sink by a mm or so. I never had a jam but I also don't have a gap so probably why. A new hot end is on my upgrade list but right now I have no complaints with the stock one either.
4. I have not seen the wires get damaged at the top but I did have wire damage under the bed after about a month of printing. My bed stopped returning temp readings due to a break in the sensor cable and when replacing i did the external wiring mod which has been a nice upgrade. The under bed wiring is dumb and should be high on everyone's fix list.
5. It does have alot of screws but it is also a very solid all metal printer so I give it a pass on this one.
6. Bed will warp for sure, it sucks. What does not suck is a PEI glass bed that you can make for about 20-30$ (I made 4 for 25$). And a plus was that I learned how to cut glass (its easy)
7. Not sure why one would need to adjust the home position, I was able to just swap the springs under the bed and lower it to accommodate the thickness of the glass+PEI. But if you do needs to adjust the home you will have to print a spacer for the switch or modify the printer in some other way.
8. I think my temperature readings are correct but to be truthful I have only checked the bed with a cheap infrared heat gun. I get same results using PLA+ as I do at work with a TAZ 6 with same temp settings.
9. & 10. Have not noticed my extruder stepper getting very hot yet and so far my longest print was ~10 hours. I have heard of ppl having issues with the spare fan header on the control board but so far i have not messed with it.

In summary I can see why the printer would get 3 stars since in its stock form it is not perfect. However, if you take into account the price, print quality, and that most of the issues can be addressed with minimal $ and maybe 2 hours time I consider this a 5 star printer for the price. If amazon let me I'd give it 4.5 stars but since I cannot I choose to round up. 

For me, these reviews and this “unboxing and first print” video below were essential in helping me become very comfortable in making my purchase. Get yours here now:
Monoprice Select Mini 3D Printer with Heated Build Plate, Includes Micro SD Card and Sample PLA Filament - 115365

I will definitely post up some of my nephews work, and who knows for that cheap of a price I could get myself one as well J This link takes you to the Monoprice mini slect 3D printer, but feel free to look around and check out some other the other premium 3D printers they have. I bet they will surprise you…Thank you for your time and reading my review.
Monoprice Select Mini 3D Printer with Heated Build Plate, Includes Micro SD Card and Sample PLA Filament - 115365

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites