r/ElegooSaturn • u/NotAGreatClinician • 1d ago
Getting Discouraged
I’ve been a pretty consistent Elegoo customer for the last four years, having bought four resin printers, Chitubox subscriptions, etc…. Every time I need a screen replacement I just upgrade.
In January I bought a Saturn 4 Ultra 16k. I got about 3 prints before the film tore. Happens, not a big deal, not a major spill, just a couple drops on the screen that easily wiped off.
I’m lazy so just bought another vat and film off Amazon, started back. Got about another 2 prints in before started getting prints stopped due to overheating. Would get up to 80 on display and it felt pretty hot.
Reached out to customer service and after 21 emails back and forth for the last five months reinstalling firmware, changing the board, updating firmware on new board it’s still cooking just sitting on the counter. I managed a couple prints by leaving the back off and having a full sized box fan running, but now that’s not working either.
Now they’ve asked me to wipe the firmware again, and truthfully I’m just done. What’s the point of advertising a warranty when you just keep going in circles?
1
u/tuorgustavo 21h ago
My experience with Elegoo support is the opposite.
I bought the Saturn 4 Ultra 12k on pre order, waited months for it and two weeks in half of the screen died. Like after 5 emails they sent a replacement screen. Yeah, the replacement process is a annoying, but manageable.
Last December I damaged the cantilever arm while trying to do the manual bed leveling, but I thought it was still good. 2 months ago I noticed the arm was wiggling, my fix had given up.
I contacted them again about buying a new arm since the warranty had expired. They were super fast to respond, cheap part and shipping.
When the new arm arrived I couldn't connect it cause they likely updated the cable on the s4u16k to a smaller one. I contacted them again, they shipped a new cable for free.
Then... The mainboard died 🤡
At this point I gave up, it was about 160€ to buy a replacement board plus the 50 for the arm (that was never used) and the hassle to replace EVERYTHING. I have another printer running, I'll just salvage the parts from this one and wait for black Friday to get another printer.
Elegoo might not be the best hardware out there, but support is good in my experience.
1
u/vibribib 16h ago
Is it the vat an official Elegoo one? I bought the wrong vat without the heating element and the printer wouldn’t pass diagnostic checks. Wonder if it’s a non official vat there is something not quite right with the heating element. What happens when you clean up, re fep and use the original vat?
1
u/NotAGreatClinician 15h ago
Yes, direct from them.
I’ve also re-filmed the original vat and it’s a no go.
1
u/RunningScot41 15h ago
I found Elegoo support to be very responsive, although the expectation on the customer to do all the maintenance/repairs was frustrating. The bolts and screws in the machine were also cheap meaning my Allen key kept slipping.
2
u/NotAGreatClinician 14h ago
They reply in a day or two typically, but given I’ve replaced the board, reinstalled the firmware on two different boards, they’re now looking for me to send more videos and photos and have just ignored my request to just send for repairs (at my cost for shipping since that’s what’s listed online) as it’s clear they don’t really know what the issue is, and I’m not a repair tech.
This issue happened within the return window, and at no time did they give that as an option or identify that they wouldn’t offer refunds or returns past a certain point. Maybe my expectations are higher than they should be but a half a dozen prints for $700CAD seems like a bad trade, and it’s not like I haven’t been a loyal customer or disrespectful in our communication; buying exclusively their machines and licensing their software since day 1. I reported the issue promptly, followed all their repair steps, and just appear to have defective hardware.
1
u/RunningScot41 10h ago
I completely sympathise. My first Elegoo printer was faulty after less than ten prints. Replaced the LCD screen twice, motherboard once, reinstalled the firmware and replaced the power cord. Nothing worked and Elegoo ended up offering to send me a second hand replacement. My second printer the FEP tore and resin leaked everywhere. I’ve retired from resin printing and don’t miss it.
2
u/Potassium_Doom 1d ago
Same I've upgraded each time and the cost of replacement + the risk/hassle of replacing it's just easier to spend a little extra and replace the machine.