Fusion3 F400-S High-Performance, Enclosed 3D Printer, Single Extruder (.4MM Nozzle) with 2 Year Warranty

We bought the Fusion3 F400-S over a year ago. Precision of printing and speed are very good. We use it (with other machines) in a special acclimatized (temperature and humidity controlled) area of our R&D lab with good stabilized power and backup. It worked fine for about 8 months before components started failing. The first component that failed was the drive cable, it just broke with no apparent reasons. It had to be replaced (with a stronger one). A month later, the motherboard malfunctioned resulting in having a complete melt-down around the nozzle (big blob). We were printing with nylon which we had done already for several months with no problems. The board had to be replaced (under warranty). The mount holding the head also had to be replaced. Later we had other break downs and needed to replace the heating block, then another time the thermistor, the hot end heater, the nozzle... It got to the point where we stopped printing at night with no supervision and installed a camera for supervision during printing from our lab. We had (and still are) done the preventive maintenance as per manual.Our engineers are using 3D printers for more than 3 years. We have several printers, large ones and smaller ones. We chose the Fusion 3 as an intermediate size 3D printer. Unfortunately it is also the one that gives us the most problems.It has 2 years warranty and we can not complaint of Fusion after-sale service but we are located really far and the down time for repair is a problem for us. So we are now buying additional (non Fusion) printers as back up.Bottom line, for us, considering the distance we are and difficulties related to shipping (unrelated to fusion3design service), the lack of reliability (component failures), down times for repair and inability to use it unattended, it is an expensive machine. However for the ones who do not face our logistical problems (shipping), and considering the two-year warranty and efficiency of the after-sale service, if you are looking for a speedy and accurate machine (with some supervision), heated bed and "hot printer", and do not need to use it as frequently as us, it could still be a good choice. Perhaps the new versions are much better too, surely the manufacture has learned a great deal from the initial machines.

This is an outstanding company and printer to work with. In the past I've made my own 3d Printer and worked with dozens of other designs, and I can say with absolute certainty that this is the best designed printer I have worked with. Here are the main points I want to go over, the software that comes with the printer, the technical support/warranty, and the design.First off, the software. This printer comes with Simplify3D which is wonderful to work with, and they have downloadable profiles for every single accepted plastic that they have tested and optimized on their website. Every profile I have used from them has worked flawlessly. They also have a huge chart of all of the compatible filaments with their relative difficulty, basic properties, and how many layers of glue to use for optimal bed adhesion.Now the support. I am honestly blown away by how generous this company has been to me, and by how thorough their user manuals are. A few months after I got the printer I tried to run nylon and I didn't put enough layers of glue down and it came off the bed a few hours into the print. Because of how nylon is, it oozed up around the extruder head destroying the heating element and temperature sensor. I sent Fusion3 an email and they just sent me the whole pre-assembled extruder replacement, hardened steel nozzle, fan, heat sink, temperature sensor, heating element and all.Recently I was having some issues with one of my extruder heads, again I messaged them and they sent a box with another whole extruder assembly asking for the old one so they could take a look at it (return shipping label included). I also asked if they were willing to sell replacement heating elements and temperature sensors because I had managed to clean up the one that had been destroyed by the nylon. Not only did they agree to this, they also sent them to me for free! If you are ever having any issues with this printer, no matter how small, there is either an answer in one of their manuals on their website for you explaining how to fix it with well labeled pictures, or you can email their response team.Lastly, the design. This is a large part of why I bought this printer. Everything about it is easy to fix and work with. The most important thing in my mind in this build is how easy it is to take out/swap the extruder assembly. I can take out my .4 extruder and replace it with about 3 minutes, including having the printer heat up to unload the filament. The bed is very easy to get extremely level, and although glass seems to have mixed reviews online I will never use anything but glass again. It has amazing bed adhesion when used with their suggested glue, its easy to clean, and it gives your parts an almost laminated feel on the bottom (Which I have taken advantage of for making bearings). Last but not least, the enclosure opens up a huge space giving you a ton of room to work with.If you are considering buying a printer in this price range, I highly encourage you to check out their website and look into it a bit more. Ps, I've printed nylonX, polycarb, abs, cfpla, TPU, and some ninja flex on this printer without any issues.

Beware! A little over a year into using the F400 it has a developed a major defect and their customer support is poor.The F400 faults at random points in the middle of long prints and just stops printing 10-22 hours into a large print job and the entire print is lost. The filament feed is fine, nozzle is not plugged, print has not lifted off the print bed, gcode is good. The printer just stops, lowers the bed and shuts off the heaters. No error codes, no UI messages, nothing.After many support calls and emails, they finally send out a replacement for the F400 main board and display. However, the printer still faults in the middle of long prints. Many more emails and phone calls, and they finally agreed to send a replacement F400. That replacement F400 is defective and does not print at all. Card read error.

This is my first 3d printer so i dont have much to compare. However i have compared parts against other printers such as makerbot and ultimaker and the quality is similar. Where the benefits really shine are in build speed, bed size, and most of all the ability to print exotic filaments out of the box. Very happy so far. Learn fusion360 if you are getting into 3d printing. It's powerful software that is the perfect sidekick to the fusion3 printer for making accurate parts.