[Proposal] Fund 3 refurbished Elegoo Centauri Carbon FDM Printers (*Potential for up to 6 working units total, or up to 3 parts units for future repairs)

[Cprossu]

This is a proposal to fund the installation of 3 new 3D printers for us to be 3D printering with.

Since my proposals are long winded, we shall first start this off by utilizing AI to summarize it! (Thanks Moheeb!)

Background:

• Five years ago, we built two Ender 5 printers as a cost-effective alternative to a refurbished Ultimaker 3. The experiment was successful, but modernization costs have since outpaced their value.

• Technology has advanced significantly, and the current fleet is slow, finicky, and maintenance-heavy.

• The community would benefit from faster, easier-to-use, more reliable machines.

Plan:

1. Printer Model: Elegoo Centauri Carbon (CoreXY, enclosed, triple Z-axis leadscrews, supports high-temp/abrasive filaments, larger build volume).

2. Acquisition Method:

• Access to returned units from Elegoo’s warehouse at steep discounts.

• Each pair costs $200–$250. A local contact will combine them into one functional printer, with spare parts from donor units or add parts to the remaining printer to make it functional.

• Potential outcome: 3–6 working printers (minimum 3 guaranteed).

• Estimated total cost (printers + parts): ≤ $1,100.

Transition Plan:

• Retain the Ender Dragon (Ender 5 Plus) for large-volume printing.

• Sell off older units to offset costs.

• Host a giveaway of still-serviceable printers to community members who cannot afford one, as-is and without warranty, but with ongoing support.

Logistics:

• Printers will be picked up in person after a planned trip to Hackaday Supercon (avoiding shipping costs).

• Build plates and minor upgrades(3d printed/replacement parts as needed) are included in the budget.

Risk Mitigation:

• Initial purchase will be funded personally to shield the Lab from risk.

• If the plan fails, personal funds will absorb the loss, and printers will be repurposed to recoup costs.

• Only reimbursement for actual lab benefit (≤ $1,100) will be requested.

Benefits:

• Acquire up to 6 next-generation printers for less than the cost of two semi-custom printers from 5 years ago.

• Faster, more reliable, less fiddly printing experience for members.

• Stronger fleet strategy: all FDM printers will be standardized for easier maintenance and parts-swapping.

• Direct community benefit through printer giveaways.

Now on to my long winded proposal!

The proposal is to fund qty 3 3D printers not exceeding $1100 total (for both printers and needed upgrades/modifications/replacement parts). 5 Years ago I proposed and built a pair of Ender 5 3D printers as an experiment to see if they could hold muster to one refurbished Ultimaker 3 printer (Which the cost to us as a nonprofit would have been around $2,000 or $400 more than the proposal for both printers asked for). I consider the experiment a success, however the costs with modernizing these printers has greatly exceeded not only their value, but also has exceeded what a much more capable printer would cost us. Technology moves fast and as much as I love those printers and have sentimental value towards them, it's time to retire them and put something easier, faster, better, and stronger in their place.
Our community would really benefit from 3D printers that are easier to use, don’t require as much set up or fussing around with, and also print much faster.

The premise is that all of our FDM printers should be identical in case one needs to be robbed for parts to help ensure another one is always operational.

The plan we have as a station to be able to afford a new fleet of 3D printers is to sell off as much of our current fleet as is possible to make up for the funds. We would like to keep the Ender Dragon (Ender 5 Plus) in use as it is able to handle bigger build volumes and is new/advanced enough to be a part of our fleet. We also wish to give back to the community by doing a give-a-way of some of the older but still workable/serviceable (but not financially viable to sell off) printers to people in our 3D printing night group who want their own printer but might not be able to afford one. Such a printer would be given away as is and without warranty, however we will still obviously gladly assist them in the same capacity as any other person bringing in their own personal printer! Specifics of the proposed 3D printer give-a-way and/or its entry requirements and execution is out of scope of this proposal and should be discussed separately, however we wished to express the intention to do so as a part of this proposal for machines that function yet are not viable to sell or part out, and an awesome way to give back to our community!

This proposal is limited to the Elegoo Centauri Carbon FDM Printer.

I have the rare opportunity to acquire returned printers from the Elegoo warehouse/outlet at a steep discount. Each pair of printers will cost around $200-$250 and Elegoo will warranty it just long enough for my friend who happens to be local to that place to build one working printer out of 2 returned ones. If we are missing any specific parts on both units or parts are bad on both units enough parts will be furnished to make the proper repairs to one of the units. My friend will make those repairs and modifications due to the time restraints involved as soon as he obtains the printers, otherwise I would bring them back to HSL for us to work on. Worst case scenario we get 3 printers and 3 carcases, best case scenario perhaps with a little more than the initial investment of the printers themselves and paying for some spare parts (included in my price estimate of not more than $1,100) we get 6 working machines. We won't be sad either way because we'll either have parts for days or we will have fully functional swappable backup units.

We as of this proposal listing have started to procure and repair the printers.

I will be making a trip to Hackaday Supercon in late October to be a presenter, so my plan is to detour to my friend’s place and pick the printers up before going home thus saving us a substantial amount of shipping compared to if we ordered these online. (Since I am getting the Supercon ticket for free and a part of my Hotel room comped, this means I have some extra funding I would not have had otherwise, which is why I am able to do this for the lab!)

These printers offer an amazing amount of quality for their price and have a Z axis with 3 leadscrews for leveling unlike the Ender 5 with its cantilever single screw design. They are also enclosed and are a true corexy design unlike the Ender 5 printers we built before. In theory and on paper they should be much more stable, able to print better with specialty filaments (higher temp and more abrasive materials), and should complete jobs much faster than our older generation machines.

They are currently $300 from here brand spanking new for reference (not including shipping or taxes):

https://us.elegoo.com/products/centauri-carbon

They will all likely need updated/not wrecked build plates, so that is a part of the cost of the proposal.

Due to how unconventional this proposal is, and the fact the design of this printer is so new (they just started shipping them late February of this year (2025)) I will be initially funding the printers with my personal money in case this deal falls through or there are problems with the machines we are not expecting. I cannot have the Lab be financially responsible if a decision I make in my member capacity backfires, so I will take the hit if this idea does not work as planned. Furthermore if this proposal should fail I have a plan on what to do with the printers to recoup my investment. If we end up spending less money than the proposal’s $1,100 total, we will adjust accordingly and only ask that amount of compensation.

Waiting for things to line up and for the newer models of printers to start showing up in this form is 5 months in the making, and I did not want to put any sort of proposal up to vote on before I knew the machines were real and could make some guarantees on being able to deliver on the promise while also shielding the lab from any financial issues that could cause problems for a proposal of this magnitude. The planets have aligned in our favor and we now are looking at getting anywhere from 3-6 working current gen 3d printers for less than the cost of building 2 semi-custom units 5 years ago. These have a bigger buildplate X and Y than those older printers, print faster, have an enclosure built in with a chamber fan, and have all of the features to make printing less fiddly! What a wild time to be alive!

[Chris McLaughlin]

I just bought one of these printers this month. I love it. Prints as good as a bambu without the cost. Only bad prints have been due to either personal mistake or wet filament. I highly recommend this unit.

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[mib....@gmail.com]

I fully stand behind and endorse this proposal. I think this is a great step forward for the station and hte lab

[Cprossu]

Just as a note here, the first time it will be available to vote on would be Saturday September 27th 2025, and if that meeting does not make quorum the next chance at voting on it will be Thursday October 9, 2025.

Also I wish everyone to know I do not wish to delve into HSL's operating funds to make this happen, so the goal is to take the financial burden of these personally until it is feasible to get that money back via sales of our old 3d printers, monetary donations to the 3D printing station, or otherwise to recoup those funds. I am hoping we come way below the $1100 I am proposing, but since I go by Murphy's law, that is my worst case scenario number. We will know if we got our 3 printers in under a week, we already have 2 working as of this post. I intend not to take a dime personally until the printers are in situ and functional.

I welcome everyone's opinions, concerns, and if you need anything clarified or wish to assist please post here publicly or hit me up in slack! 

[Brett Neese]

I also support this proposal. Cpro has done an excellent job derisking the lab’s limited funds so, as unconventional as it may be, I don’t see why we wouldn’t do it as it could only help the lab. 

Having 3D printers that are less fussy, faster, more plug and play, and that are compatible with each other would be an excellent improvement to the station and the lab which I can even foresee driving membership growth.

Brett

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[Rick Blake]

I agree, Brent. Cpro built and installed the Enders, improved and hardened, and they served well for longer than should have been hoped for. His choices I think can trusted. 

And the 3D printing station is not only a big draw, and is one of the two flagships of the Labs, it honors the founding and founders of our shared space. 

It is time. I'm looking forward to this next generation of the station. 

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[Cprossu]

I am not at all sure if my proposal states this as clearly as it needs to be, so I wish to clarify that:
1.) I am footing the initial bill for the printers until they are delivered and running properly.
2.) I do not wish to be reimbursed with current HSL funds.

3.) Once the total amount of money spent on this project is finalized and the new printers have proven themselves I wish to assist lab personnel in selling a portion of our printer fleet and parts in order to generate funding .

4.) I wish to then be reimbursed for the printers using the funding generated from the printer and parts sales.

If you have any questions or think this could be worded better, or think that this proposal needs to be reworded or amended, please speak up and leave a post!

[Cprossu]

I want to make a few updates! The proposal passed yesterday, and Elegoo also released the source for the firmware thanks to pressure from the community after it was proven they were using code protected by the GPL, and it was not in fact proprietary. 

https://github.com/elegooofficial/CentauriCarbon

So needless to say life is good! Any modifications we should need to make will now be way easier, and I trust the community more than the OEM of the printer when it comes to supporting it long term.

My friend now has 5 complete working units out of our 6, and the 6th actually works but is just missing a cheap part, so all in all everything is even better than planned!

[Cprossu]

Yesterday I was able to deliver 5 out of the 6 printers, we had a hiccup with one, and will need some parts to complete it. It's not a priority and we'll wait on the units to become cheaper where we got them as it's cheaper to just buy a whole extra unit to get the part we need, but demand became high recently, so we figure we'll have to wait until after black friday to even get the prices down to normal. Yesterday's load was 4 working machines (1 spare, 3 we can put into production) and the one parts unit I am planning us to keep around. We set one up last night for testing, but the 3d printing computer will need to be unlocked to update and change the version of orcaslicer on the machine (it's now admin locked). I ran the portable version just to verify operation though. The updates to the stock printers include a filament roll protector made of rapid petg, the spool holder made of cartbon fiber, a nylon printed custom door handle, and the feeder ptfe tube cable chain holders plus a filament tube strain relief on the printhead made of an ABS blend. Each working machine has been gone through, belts tensioned properly and settings tweaked. We have acrylic lids with sliding vents that need to be assembled and some screws, nuts, and washers brought in to put into place (and some m2 self tappers for the handles) 

[Cprossu]

I have been busy with family health emergencies, however I would like some feedback on the new 3d printers!

How have they been working for everyone, especially compared to the old ones? 

What would you like to see improved, what would make it easier to use them? Have there been any notable pain points?

[David Lang]

I've used them a couple of times with mixed results, but all the issues I've run
into have been fixed after I reported them.

They are a LOT faster (even when dragon is running a larger nozzle)

I do want to try printing POM on one of them. I picked up a couple extra build
plates so that I don't risk the existing ones, and we may want to get a chamber
heater setup.

David Lang

[Eric Ose]

Cpro,

The documentation linked from the wiki still mainly references all of the old printers. We should have a placeholder for how to use these printers even though the complete documentation isn't ready yet.

From what I understand we're supposed to use orca slicer and select the printer model from the dropdown list. 

I help the kid print something and it adhered really well to the build plate. And didn't come off until we heat it up the build plate. That seems kind of backwards from how it should work so I'm not really sure why that happened. It was pla that we used.

Eric Ose
Robot Ambassador

Sometimes cool things just happen, but usually you have to plan them.

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[Rick Blake]

Eric, where are these out of date wiki pages? I've updated all I can find. Point them out to mew and I will get them updated.

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[Rick Blake]

David, POM, a form of Delrin, should be printed slowly according to available advice. It also may need to be vented, a problem similar to ABS. But it is an interesting material. Testing would need to be done, but we also need to accommodate new materials, These are very capable printers. We should be sure they can be taken full advantage of. 

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[Cprossu]

Thanks for the feedback, yeah we will have to go through all the documentation, physical and virtual and update it. It was more of a moving target since we're doing a LOT of new things with these machines, skipping some steps, adding others!

[Rick Blake]

I have not yet touched the printed docs, but the wiki page(s) are as current as I dre make them, with accurate inventory of printers including service status and location, and reference to slicer software.

I will work on the printed docs this week. The old docs will be preserved, new docs inserted. 

David, to respond to the heated chamber question, a common solution is to place a small heater inside the printer cabinet, these are already a chamber, adding heat is that simple. This may require we source glass top covers to avoid warping of the current (apparently) Lexan tops. Worth looking into, though heating the chamber will present a risk of bad practices and inadvertent impacts. We will figure it out. 

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[Eric Ose]

Rick,

Well I'm recalling my many prior attempts at using the previous printers and often being told I was wrong about the settings.

So for me the question was how does one know what settings to use. It doesn't explicitly say anywhere what settings would be used for anything and that's what I was looking for. It just says to use orca slicer. I've been told to select the drop-down menu for the specific model. I get that this is something everybody else already knows. Somehow that wasn't sufficient for when I was using the previous machines.

Eric Ose
Robot Ambassador

Sometimes cool things just happen, but usually you have to plan them.

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[Rick Blake]

The champions will address this. A step-by-step guide well be published as soon as we can write and test it.

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[David Lang]

Eric Ose wrote:

> Rick,
> Well I'm recalling my many prior attempts at using the previous printers
> and often being told I was wrong about the settings.

in general, if you select the correct printer, and then select the generic
filament to match what you are using, the settings should be reasonable.

you change from those defaults at your own risk (and you can probably find
someone to support and oppose any change you make)

David Lang

[Rick Blake]

This brings up an interesting problem, we have so much mongrel filament around that. You can't tell what profile to use. Now. You've got me preparing to dig into orca and understand profiles so I can sort through the filament profiles and see what they're tweaking. In the interim, possibly by Thursday, probably we should reduce the profiles to generics and what we know we have come through the lab regularly. And you know that at home filament profiles are a major pain. We're probably best off to support as little as possible because you cannot support everything. And sometimes you can't even trust the manufacturer to tell you the truth about the specs and the quality of their product. So this week I'll be doing some work in Orca to understand how filament profiles actually work.

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[Cprossu]

The hackerspace-y approach to this would be to get some talented people together and get some usb barcode scanners, then make a module for orcaslicer that could utilize it, make a small calibration print for each new roll, plug that in and print the barcode sticker to slap on the filament roll, and that way you could literally just scan the barcode on the filament roll you are going to use, and the temperature settings would be automagically set up for that specific roll.

 Unfortunately that is also a lot of work and the effort put in vs the small return of making things a little easier for people, so YMMV.

If batches of filament didn't vary as much as they do, it would be as simple as setting the actual UPC barcode for the actual product as the profile.... food for thought I suppose.

[David Lang]

I don't think most of us are working on anything precise enough to need this
level of checking. We aren't going to test every roll of PLA to see if it needs
a nozzle temp 1 degree higher than the next roll.

but we do need good settings for PLA/PETG/etc, and some guidelines for "if you
aren't getting good results, here's what to try"

There are people who test every roll and for who different color filament of the
same type and brand is enough different to need different print settings. The
rest of us aren't doing things that are that sensitive.

David Lang

On Sun, 4 Jan 2026, Cprossu wrote:

> Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2026 18:33:24 -0800 (PST)
> From: Cprossu <cpr...@gmail.com>
> Reply-To: heatsy...@googlegroups.com
> To: HeatSync Labs <heatsy...@googlegroups.com>
> Subject: Re: [HSL] Re: [Proposal] Fund 3 refurbished Elegoo Centauri Carbon
> FDM Printers (*Potential for up to 6 working units total,
> or up to 3 parts units for future repairs)

[Antonio Contrisciani]

I should add that the previous printers were much harder to work with and required a lot more user input than these current models. In the past you couldnt just select a generic pla in prusa slicer, slice and print, and have any hope of having a successful print. With more modern filaments (at least the name brand ones) and the better slicer and better printers, you can generally just select a generic profile in orca and get a solid print that requires at most minimal tweaking.

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