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The Best Just Got Better With The Anycubic Mega-S
Anycubic Mega-S
Summary
The Mega-S is a small upgrade to a legend of a 3D printer. All the upgrades are more than welcome and if you’re in the market for a new 3D printer the Anycubic Mega-S just got a little less hard to ignore.
One of my favorite 3D printers, the Anycubic i3 Mega has had an upgrade for 2019! The Anycubic Mega-S keeps the sturdy, reliable design that made the original so popular and adds some extra improvements that make it even more worthy of your hard-earned dollars.
What hasn’t changed?
The original i3 Mega has gained a reputation as a solid, reliable 3d printer that punches well above its weight.
The stock printer features a steel frame, heated bed, filament runout detection, color touch screen, and an innovative coated print bed that has unbeatable part adhesion without the need for tape or glue.
Its 210 x 210 x 205 mm build volume is a good size for most applications, I find it a good compromise between it not being very limiting and not taking up masses of desk space.
The motion system is dual z-axis design for increased stability and accuracy.
The best feature of the i3 Mega is the Ultrabase print bed. This is a perfectly flat glass bed that is covered in a microporous coating.
The Ultrabase doesn’t require you to use any glue, tape, or hairspray to make your prints stick. You just turn on your printer and start printing. And then, when your print is finished, you let it cool and they just snap off the print with your hands.
If you need to clean the Ultrabase, you can happily use metal implements like a scraper without damaging the surface, as it has a Mohs hardness rating of 8.
When I first used my Ultrabase, I instantly realized that it was game-changing for 3D printing, completely solving one of the most common and annoying problems in an instant.
Thankfully the new model uses precisely the same Ultrabase heated bed with all its benefits.
What’s new?
The most significant upgrade on the Mega-S is an all-new extruder. This is a better design, and although it’s still a Bowden, it does now allow you to print with flexible filaments such as TPU. It’s also easier to load compared to the old design with an easy to use extrude lever.
On the surface, the only visible change you’ll notice is the addition of a built-in filament holder. Although not a tremendous innovation, it does fix the biggest issue I had with the original design. The separate acrylic filament holder was always a bit cumbersome and inelegant. The new filament holder is well-positioned to make filament changes easy and accessible.
Under the covers, you’ll find power outage resume capabilities which you may think of as a life-saver when your next 20-hour print is at risk of catastrophe.
In the event of a power failure, whether a blown fuse in your house, a cable accidentally pulled out the wall or a whole city blackout, the Mega-S will remember where it got to. When the power resumes, it will give you the option of finishing where it left off.
The filament runout sensor has been re-positioned to sit just behind the filament spool. The previous design was a little precarious, and I often found it falling off when changing filament. This new design is in a much better position and more solidly attached to the printer frame.
Conclusion
The Anycubic Mega-S is a welcome upgrade to one of my favorite 3D printers. While there are no fundamental changes to the design, there were never any significant problems that needed fixing in the original design.
Anycubic has always been pro-active at helping their customers, and the Mega-S upgrade just helps to show that they really do listen to their userbase.
I’ve had my i3 Mega for nearly two years now, and I continue to use it regularly as I can always rely on it to work.
If I were looking for a new 3D printer now, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy the Mega-S, safe in the knowledge that I was getting the best bang for my buck.
As a proud i3 Mega owner I don’t see any need to upgrade. But I am tempted by the upgrade kit if only to try out some flexi filament and see if I can get a third year of happy ownership out of my i3 Mega!
Upgrade Kit
If like me, you already have an i3 Mega, you can buy an upgrade kit that turns your i3 into a Mega-S. This gives you an upgraded extruder that can print flexible filament and an upgraded filament holder that bolts on to the printer frame.
Specs
Build volume: 210 x 210 x 205 mm (8.3 x 8.3 x 8.1 inches)
Layer height: 40 – 300 Microns
Feeder system: Bowden drive and geared feeder
Extruder type: Single
Nozzle size: 0.4 mm
Max. extruder temperature: 260 °C
Max. heated bed temperature: 110 °C
Print Speed: 20 – 100 mm/s
Bed leveling: Manual
Print bed: Heated bed with Anycubic Ultrabase coating
Display: Color Touch Screen
Connectivity: SD, USB
Power outage recovery: Yes
Filament sensor: Yes
Materials
Filament diameter: 1.75 mm
Third party filaments: Yes
Materials: ABS, PLA, PETG, TPU
Software Requirements
Recommended Slicer: Cura
Operating systems: Windows, Mac OSX, Linux
Dimensions
Physical dimensions: 405 x 410 x 453 mm (16.14 x 15.94 x 17.83 inches)
Weight: 11 kg (24.25 lbs)
Be sure to check out my review of the original Anycubic i3 Mega.
Last update on 2024-10-05 at 22:47
why you write “Layer height: 100 – 400 Microns”? Anycubic in amazon write “Layer Resolution: 0.05-0.3 mm”
My mistake, thanks for spotting it!
Hi Dylan, did you eventually have installed auto bed-leveling on your Anycubic? If so, (or perhaps hypothetically speaking; if you choose to use abl in the future….) is there a specific system that you prefer? And is there an absolute non-compatible brand? I find it difficult to go this road because of the incremental amount of mainboard pcb’s. Would you be so kind to inform me somewhat on this very topic? I would really appreciate it but can understand that you can’t be a tutor for anyone who owns an Anycubic 3D printer.
Kindly regards,
Raymon