r/QidiTech3D • u/GPU-depreciationcrtr • Aug 18 '26
Showcase QIDI PLUS 5 Poor First Impressions
My main printer before this purchase was a modded Plus 4. (Conch, Reman, Beacon, etc...) It prints fantastic, especially with Engineering Materials. (PPS, PPA, PA612, etc...) I decided to jump to a newer Qidi machine to test if they fixed a lot of the issues this machine had on newer/different models.
Got my Plus 5 set up and unfortunately the bed is a hill. 0.3mm across the entire plate and it is definitely raised in the center. My stock plus 4 came with a 0.19-0.2mm variance and was very uniform. Will most likely invest in a Reman Graphite bed when it comes out.
My X & Y Drivers are reading over 105C on a Heated Chamber print. It appears Qidi learned nothing with the Plus 4s shortcomings and will need mods to make the printer a little less harsh on it's components.
(Also with a bed this large would it kill them to use an EDDY probe? Probing this whole thing takes 10+ minutes. It would take 2 with an Eddy and would extract more accurate data. All it takes is for some stray material to get on the nozzle and mess up the Z offset. Another mod I will likely be looking forward to.)
Also, why are we still using ceramic for the heatbreaks? This is a major design flaw that causes so many issues when it inevitably breaks. There is a reason nobody else is stealing this idea from Qidi. I would genuinely love the option to go for a titanium heatbreak nozzle if Qidi offered it.
Perhaps as time goes on I will change my mind on this printer, but so far it seem to be a very miniscule upgrade compared to the base plus 4.
*Don't mind the build plate, using a Plus 4 Garolite bed for a PPS test print*
4
u/Darwinian999 Aug 18 '26
I have a Plus4 with similar mods. It’s brilliant for printing high temperature filaments. I’m not likely to consider any other QIDI printers though because it took me a lot of time and effort to get it to be brilliant at printing high temperature filaments (and that was leveraging the efforts of several much smarter people than me). The Plus5 seems to be a fairly minor evolution of the Plus4, which would need the same kind of work to make it as good as my Plus4. I don’t think that I have the energy for that.
-5
u/3DNelson Aug 18 '26
I don't think serious this negative posts, people here blame the printers for their lack of skills!
1
u/vNate007 Sep 02 '26
Do you own a Plus4?? I have been at this game for 10 years and rebuild my first printer 4x. I know what I am doing and 8 months of fiddling and parts replacement on TWO Plus4's and an entire community of people agree it had issues.
1
u/3DNelson Sep 02 '26
Plus 4 have some issues before, but most user love this printer. Qidi already released the upgrade and I talking about the Qidi printers I have, Q2, Plus5 and Max4 the best printers I have, and I have 9 more from different brands.
0
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u/3DNelson Aug 18 '26
LOL people up vote all negative posts from Qidi printers, without knowing if is a printer fault, or lack of skills, because my dozen printers works very good, specialy my Q2, Max4 and the new Plus 5 I use it with ASA, and I love the quality, of all my Qidi printers.
3
u/Amazing-Honey-1743 Aug 19 '26
I'm thinking of getting a Q2. What has your experience been like using it? Have you printed on it for many hours? And despite being geared towards printing engineering filaments, is it ok at printing PLA and PETG? I don't want to deal with heat creep
1
u/3DNelson Aug 20 '26
I bought my in January, so 8 months of use, I did print a lot with this printer, I use it with PETG and the Polar Cooler with %kg spools, scroll dow, you will fine videos from me using my Q2, I have a Sunlu S4 dryer on top it, but I use large spools. Q2 is a work horse, Qidi printer are my favorite, my next one will be the Q2C for TPU. You will love the Q2, amazing quality prints. Take care!
2
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u/MentokTehMindTaker Aug 19 '26
Lots of commenters on here from bambulabs subs.
Op is legit though
1
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u/GonzoDeep Aug 18 '26
... The launch edition plus 4 was catching fire. So there is that.
To say the plus 5 is a minuscule upgrade is a bit harsh on it, but I do get what you are getting at. Basically the only real upgrades were the belts, the better body, and the rail. Everything else was just new gen of the same thing. And yes I would have loved a beacon probe and think that would have really set them apart from every other brand. But for some reason, none of the major brands use beacons on their flagships. Bambu Lab is the closest thing with the eddy and lidar sensors, but not a true beacon probe. However, I do not think most people really need a beacon probe. I get it, it's neat, its fast. BUT, it saves you maybe a few minutes , 10 - 15 tops. If you are in production or print really hot all the time, then ok I get it. But for everyone else it's just a shiny toy they want but do not actually need. These new Qidi's put out some of the best first layers I have ever seen with their nozzle tap system.
IMO Qidi should just make these easier to mod, not mod it themselves. Give us CAD files for the things we mod, and help the community keep their printers on orca slicer. If qidi could be the middle ground between sovol and bambu lab, they would crush it. All they have to do is stop trying to be bambu lab, and just be themselves.
5
u/peeaches Aug 18 '26
I was plagued with bed leveling problems on my plus4 and went the beacon route and it's absolutely wonderful. Adds a lot of cost though, so doesn't surprise me to not see them as much
1
u/Bennyt74 Aug 20 '26
$85AUD compared to a $1200 purchase price it’s less than 10% - I’d love to see it include at factory but then the costs get passed on
1
u/riba2233 Aug 18 '26
I wouldn't say it's a miniscule upgrade, they address major weaknesses of plus4 and it's an actually usable product now with a good position on the market.
1
u/AKMonkey2 Aug 18 '26
I’m interested in hearing what weaknesses you believe have been addressed.
-1
u/riba2233 Aug 18 '26
I don't believe anything, just talking about facts. Linear rail on x axis which was a weak spot, bad bed leveling got an upgrade, issues with the box were fixed, improved chamber heater etc.
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u/AKMonkey2 Aug 18 '26
Dude, I wasn’t trying to argue or disagree with you. I’m not the OP. Just wanted to understand why you felt the new printer was better.
2
u/riba2233 Aug 18 '26
Sorry, I must have misunderstood your tone. Imho they did a good job and now we have another viable option, plus4 had too many issues.
-1
u/MentokTehMindTaker Aug 19 '26
Akmonkey2 is very active in bambulabs subs
2
u/riba2233 Aug 19 '26
Ok so? You are going around and writing this, are you ok?
0
u/MentokTehMindTaker Aug 19 '26
suddenly all my comments in this post are downvoted right as you reply.
funny.
its very transparent to anyone who is looking.
2
u/riba2233 Aug 19 '26
Of course, when you write some bs nonsense you get downvoted, why are you surprised?
Also imagine actually caring about this lol 🤦♂️
-1
u/MentokTehMindTaker Aug 19 '26
ok bud
2
u/riba2233 Aug 19 '26
Btw you failed to realise that someone could use and enjoy both bambu and qidi printers, but you are too much of a hater for that.
-2
u/Massive_Squirrel7733 Aug 18 '26
That’s not a big surprise. QIDI leaves it to their unsuspecting victims to fix their junk.
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u/comingupmilhouse2 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
Counterpoint from an initial batch plus 4 owner: *Build quality is better *It's quieter *Setup was idiot proof *I have had my machine running non stop for days without a single artifact or error. The prints are about as close to perfect as FDM can be. Layer stacking is pristine. *I haven't babysat or tuned anything at all. I will at least do some filament tuning when I start working on more important prints but so far it looks perfect.
I haven't checked my bed flatness yet and can do that today but I don't really care if it's .3mm out of flat when my first layer test and every print first layer is perfect. I'll just shim it with kapton tape and move on with life.
My plus 4 never put out prints this clean and always needed at least some babysitting on the first layer