![Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely 16K Resin 3D Printer Overview [The Maker’s Toolbox]](https://i0.wp.com/hackster.imgix.net/uploads/attachments/1836068/_beYRVXyhcE.blob?auto=compress%2Cformat&w=600&h=450&fit=min&w=696&resize=696,0&ssl=1 "Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely 16K Resin 3D Printer Overview [The Maker’s Toolbox]")
MSLA (masked stereolithography) resin 3D printing expertise matured quickly lately and the Elegoo’s latest entry into the market, the Saturn 4 Extremely 16K, is proof of that. However is that this printer an excellent entry into resin printing or well worth the improve from an earlier mannequin? To seek out out, I examined the brand new Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely 16K resin 3D printer.
Saturn 4 Extremely 16K Overview
Because the identify suggests, that is the fourth era of the “Saturn” MSLA resin printer from Elegoo. It sits between the Mars and Jupiter strains in each measurement and value. The “4” within the identify is likely to be just a little deceptive, as there have been much more than 4 fashions within the Saturn household. For instance, there are presently three Saturn 4 fashions: the Saturn 4, the Saturn 4 Extremely, and the Saturn 4 Extremely 16K.
The Saturn 4 Extremely 16K is the most effective Saturn mannequin out there proper now, with a better decision display screen than the others and several other different upgrades.
The ten” 16K monochrome LCD has a decision of 15120×6230, which is fairly unbelievable and works out to a pixel measurement of simply 14×19μm — completely tiny.
The construct quantity is 211.68×118.37×220mm. That’s fairly beneficiant and greater than sufficient for the wants of most customers, however it’s smaller than the Jupiter SE. That’s one thing to think about should you plan to print actually huge fashions or need to print a complete bunch of components directly.
Distinctive options
I’m not going to go over ever single characteristic of the Saturn 4 Extremely 16K as a result of, frankly, most of them are boring. Do you actually care concerning the UV mild engine? Most likely not.
As an alternative, I’m going to spend my time speaking concerning the distinctive options that make this printer stand out.
Crucial, by far, is the “Tilt Launch Expertise.” Elegoo isn’t the primary producer to incorporate this characteristic, however I’m actually glad they’ve jumped on the bandwagon. As an alternative of lifting the construct plate immediately up out of the vat after every layer, the Saturn 4 Extremely 16K first tilts the vat at an angle.
This dramatically reduces the peeling forces because the cured resin pulls away from the vat movie, eliminating stress that would in any other case result in mannequin deformation and even print failure. The tilting vat is the only largest reliability development that I’ve seen in seven years of resin printing and Elegoo was actually good to repeat it.
One other actually thrilling characteristic is the “Sensible Tank Heating.” I’m unsure how good it’s, however this warms up the resin within the vat to 30°C with a view to enhance reliability. Chilly resin doesn’t stream nicely and makes correct publicity unpredictable, so elevating the resin to a constant temperature is an efficient factor. In my expertise, it solely took a couple of minutes to warmth earlier than printing.
Subsequent, the auto-leveling and built-in drive sensor are good. MSLA resin printers don’t require frequent leveling just like the FFF/FDM counterparts, however I nonetheless like that the Saturn 4 Extremely 16K handles every part. And the drive sensor is nice for stopping harm to the publicity LCD if cured resin will get caught to the vat.
In actual fact, the printer does a complete self-check routine on startup to make sure that every part is sweet to go. That checks for points, but in addition for errors. If, for instance, you overlook to place the vat again on the machine, it’ll inform you.
Lastly — and this will appear minor — I just like the construct plate’s fast launch mechanism. I’ve used all types of printer fashions with completely different mechanisms and that is most likely my favourite. It’s fast, doesn’t require a lot drive, and locks securely into the correct place each time.
Oh, and the quilt hinges open, which I really like. No extra looking for a spot to put the quilt!
Extra stuff
Earlier than I get to my assessments, the outcomes, and my general expertise, there are just a few different issues you must know concerning the Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely 16K.
First, it’s suitable with each the Mars Mate Air Air purifier and the Mercury Plus V3.0 wash and remedy machine. Elegoo despatched me each of these with the 3D printer, so I’ll take a second to speak about them.
The Mars Mate Air Air purifier is a pleasant addition. It pulls air from the Saturn 4 by way of a hose after which pushes it out by way of a filter. The filters are huge and replaceable. You’ll be able to set the fan pace to excessive or low, or auto to modify forwards and backwards between the 2. The Mars Mate isn’t small, but it surely does a fairly good job of chopping down on resin fumes and is quiet, so I like to recommend getting it should you’re going to print inside.
The Mercury Plus V3.0 is fairly customary for a wash and remedy machine. There isn’t something noteworthy about it, but it surely works nicely and I don’t have any complaints. The dimensions of the wash basin is acceptable for the Saturn 4 Extremely 16K and the construct plate sits properly on high, for those who like to clean prints earlier than eradicating them from the construct plate.
In the event you don’t have already got a wash and remedy machine, I like to recommend grabbing this one. You may use a Tupperware container and the solar, however it is a lot extra handy and nice.
Transferring on to the digicam: Elegoo advertises this as an “AI Digital camera” and it factors inside on the construct plate. There’s additionally a lightweight inside, so you need to use the digicam for distant monitoring and for recording time lapse movies. Talking of, the time lapse video high quality isn’t going to win any awards. It’s acceptable, however you really want a correct digicam to seize one thing eye-catching.
However I’m not fairly certain what the AI does or how nicely it really works, as a result of I didn’t know tips on how to check it immediately. The advertising and marketing materials says it will possibly detect an empty plate or a warped mannequin, however I believe that’s it. And I’m fairly skeptical of the warped mannequin detection — it looks as if it must be fairly dangerous for the AI to acknowledge it.
Nonetheless, I suppose it’s a testomony to the reliability of the printer that I by no means had any failed prints for it to detect. And it’s most likely higher than not having something in any respect.
Software program
Formally, the 2 supported slicers for the Saturn 4 Extremely 16K are Chitubox and SatelLite. However unofficially, you have got different choices. Lychee presently has help for this printer and there could also be others that do, too.
I think that the majority customers will go for Chitubox, since that could be a acquainted face within the resin 3D printing scene. Personally, I believe it’s fairly mediocre. It really works wonderful normally, however I don’t find it irresistible. Throughout my testing of the Saturn 4 Extremely 16K, I discovered that the Community Sender utility (vital for transferring sliced information to the printer over WiFi) would crash lots and require that I go to the duty supervisor to kill the associated course of. Not a complete dealbreaker, however annoying.
SatelLite is one thing new. In actual fact, I didn’t even learn about it till I used to be virtually accomplished with my testing for this evaluation.
It’s Elegoo’s personal slicer and it appears fairly usable, in my restricted expertise. It labored easily, generated respectable helps, and the community utility didn’t have any points.
In the event you’re new to resin printing and don’t but have an allegiance, I might recommend beginning with SatelLite. In the event you discover it too simplistic and limiting, then transfer to both Lychee or Chitubox.
Fashions and settings
I carried out all of my check prints with the default “Regular” profile. In previous resin printer evaluations, I might check a bunch of various settings to attempt to maximize high quality.
However that doesn’t really feel vital anymore. The default settings, at a 50μm layer peak, are already the proper steadiness of high quality and pace. You may at all times decrease the layer peak to enhance print high quality, however I truthfully wrestle to see the distinction with out magnification on most components.
I used Elegoo’s ABS-Like 3.0 Professional resin, in Gray, for all of those.
For the fashions, I chosen a wide selection and also you’ll see pictures of lots of them right here. I needed a mixture of ornamental figures and useful components. These additionally run the gamut in relation to measurement and I’ll attempt to embody scale references within the pictures.
Exams
To keep away from saying “yep, that one turned out nicely” again and again, I’m simply going to provide the highlights reel.
When it got here to floor high quality and wonderful element copy, the Saturn 4 Extremely 16K was just about excellent. For instance, check out this gremlin bust.
The modeler put numerous effort into the feel of the pores and skin and all of that element got here by way of very nice. You’ll be able to even see the faint veins within the ears.
On this mini, such as you would possibly print for a steampunk D&D marketing campaign, there may be a lot wonderful element that I wrestle to even make most of it out with my bare eye — the digicam’s macro lens offers you a greater view.
By the way in which, he’s solely lacking his arms as a result of these are modeled as separate items.
I used to be particularly thinking about how the Saturn 4 Extremely 16K would deal with components vulnerable to warping. That may be a widespread drawback for useful components, which are inclined to have huge, flat surfaces that look dangerous (and carry out poorly) in the event that they warp even just a little bit.
This Raspberry Pi case, which I might count on to warp considerably on different printers, held its form virtually completely. I believe that’s due to the heated vat and the Tilt Launch Expertise. The heated vat helps to scale back temperature fluctuations, whereas the Tilt Launch Expertise retains stress to a minimal.
Sadly, helps stay the most important detriment to resin printing. It’s laborious to create helps that break free with out scarring the mannequin.
However the Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely 16K does enhance in that regard. As a result of the Tilt Launch Expertise reduces peeling forces, you may get away with fewer and lighter helps which have smaller contact factors. These break off simpler and depart behind much less seen scars.
(it is a smaller Gremlin bust than the one proven beforehand)
That doesn’t eradicate the issue completely, but it surely does assist. That’s very true for modelers who take the time to actually optimize helps. That D&D mini, for example, had virtually no perceptible help scarring.
Total expertise and ideas
I actually just like the Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely 16K. I are inclined to keep away from resin printing days, as a result of I don’t like the effort or the mess or the finicky helps. However the Saturn 4 Extremely 16K makes the expertise rather more nice.
And it’s presently priced at $499.99, which is an absolute steal. Examine this to the Prusa SL1S SPEED, which prices $1,999, and the worth proposition is apparent. It’s larger and is able to a lot better element, plus it has many extra options.
Don’t get me improper: I actually like Prusa and the significance of their open-source work can’t be overstated. The SL1S SPEED can also be, nicely, speedy. I’m simply making this level to focus on how a lot worth shoppers are getting from the Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely 16K for simply 500 bucks.
Nonetheless, I did run into one challenge: the touchscreen LCD (for the management interface — I’m not speaking concerning the publicity LCD) began appearing bizarre throughout my testing. The colours would go all blue and wonky, as if the inexperienced or purple channels had been turning off or one thing.
Elegoo despatched me a alternative touchscreen, however I didn’t find yourself needing it. I simply disconnected and reconnected the ribbon cable, and it appears to be working wonderful now. I’m guessing it was just a bit unfastened. I don’t suppose it is a huge deal, however it’s value mentioning and I’m simply the tiniest bit nervous that it’s going to come unfastened once more.
Apart from that, I don’t have any complaints. The touchscreen appears to be like good and works nicely. Mannequin previews look nice because of the excessive decision.
It might be good if there was a built-in filtration system, so the exterior Mars Mate wouldn’t be vital. However that must be small, which might most likely make it much less efficient.
An automated resin shelling out system, like we see on some high-end printers, can be actually cool. Nonetheless, that isn’t one thing I believe is affordable to count on at this value level. And, frankly, a resin emptying system can be extra helpful. Somebody must get on that…
Conclusion
As I completed up my testing and began scripting this evaluation, I saved considering “wow, it is a nice printer.” The Tile Launch Expertise, specifically, actually seals the deal for me. I believe each resin printer wants that characteristic and I’m amazed you could get it in a $500 printer now.
The Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely 16K can be an excellent deal even with out that, however the Tilt Launch pushes it into “wonderful worth” territory, in my view.
Anycubic is Elegoo’s largest competitor and the Anycubic Photon Mono M7 Professional might be the closest equal to the Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely 16K. However the Anycubic is dearer, has a decrease decision, and doesn’t have that all-important Tilt Launch Expertise. The Anycubic does produce other good options, like recirculated resin heating and an automated resin refill system, however I’d a lot reasonably have a tilting vat.
So, I’m pleased to advocate the Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely 16K. I imagine Elegoo actually nailed this one. As with the Elegoo Centauri Carbon that I lately reviewed, Elegoo appears to be providing the most effective worth available on the market.
And if you wish to avoid wasting cash and don’t want as a lot construct quantity, the Mars 5 Extremely additionally has Tilt Launch Expertise. Its pixel measurement is just like the Saturn 4 Extremely 16K, but it surely solely prices $269.99. I haven’t tried the Mars 5 Extremely myself, however that sounds fairly nice.
TL;DR: Get the Elegoo Saturn 4 Extremely 16K if you’d like numerous construct quantity, however take into account the Elegoo Mars 5 Extremely if you wish to avoid wasting cash. Each have Tilt Launch Expertise and I believe that’s now a “will need to have” characteristic for MSLA resin printers.
