Review: Wanhao Dual Color FFM 3D Printer – D12/230

 

 

Not long ago, I received the Wanhao D12/230 for review from Wanhao. I have been printing from this printer for the past 6 months. In this review I will examine the models available from Wanhao, and the options which were included with my model 230 printer. I will discuss the things I discovered with the printer that were unacceptable and how Wanhao could improve them. I’ll subsequently cover the things I enjoyed about the printer. I’ll conclude with my general impressions of the printer and how it compares to the other popular Wanhao printer the Duplicator i3.

 

Unboxing

 

It’s always fun to open the box to a new printer! The D12/230 is no exception to this rule Wanhao sells two models of this printer the 230 with a single extruder or the 230 which includes the dual extruder upgrade. The number 230 stands for the fact that the build area is 230mm by 230mm with a 250mm z-axis. I was sent the dual extruder upgrade with mine. The printer is stuffed full of extras including run out sensors, a spring build plate, built-in Wi-Fi and the option to add a BL-Touch. The D12 additionally included an older version of the Cura slicer w/the Wi-Fi Plugin and a tool kit. So, how easy was the setup?

Assembly

 

The printer comes fully assembled except for the gantry assembly and the installation of the Spool holders and extruders. Assembly of the gantry, spool holders and extruders took less the 15 minutes. I do recommend checking all the screws in the printer. I found some were either loose due to shipping or just had not been tightened at the factory. Wanhao tested my printer before placing it in the box and shipping it. They even captured photos of their inventory of the box and communicated it in an email prior to me receiving the box. So, what makes this printer special?

Dual Color

The D12 printer is my first real dual color printer. I had tried the CTC dual color printer years ago but with no success. The two printers employ alternative methods for printing dual color. The CTC used dual print heads which had to be leveled separately. This inevitably ended with one of the two heads either too far from the bed or so close the head would rip the print from the bed. The D12 is a single head dual extruder, so you only have to level one head and adjust the extruders.

PTFE Tube

The D12 head additionally includes full 360 degree cooling and is completely modular in design. The head is not all metal and consist of a PTFE tube within the nozzle. I believe there is a way to convert it to all metal but as of yet there is no kit available through Micro Swiss.  I have had to change the tube in the nozzle once after approximately 20 prints. The nozzle was stopped up because the tube within collapsing and would not allow the filament to flow.

 

Print Bed

 

The magnetic print bed is wonderful for the spring feature. All a user has to do is remove the bed, bend it and the print will pop off the bed. The one grip I have about the bed is the material that was chosen for the print surface. The place where my dual color tower prints have already been ripped up from the surface. If you print in ABS, do not use acetone to clean the bed. It will melt the Wanhao print surface. I will be replacing mine with a WhamBam  surface in the future. I’ve included a recent photo of my surface now. Wanhao does sell replacement surfaces for $7.00 with $25.00 for shipping to the US. The Wanhao authorized dealers in the US aren’t carrying the parts for the D12 but should be in the future.

Slicers

For a slicer I have considered others with the D12 but found that the downloadable version 4.6.2from the Wanhao website has served me best. I considered the most recent version from Ultimaker but had perpetual problems and errors from it. The version from the Wanhao site already comes setup with all the plugins required for printing to the D12. The only other slicer that I have employed that worked was the recent Beta version of the PrusaSlicer. I have not tried to connect using OctoPrint yet, but I believe it is possible with the right plugins.

First Prints

After assembly I printed the two color Batman key fob, which printed nicely. I decided for my next two color print I would print the two color V2 rocket. As the print completely failed, I learned that printer required much more tweaking. At this point I have printed six dual color dual color #3DBenchys. I found that my flow rate was too low, the nozzle needed to be hotter and the volume of my dual color tower was excessively low. The nozzle requires extra volume in order to clear the color from the last pass. The colors still mix to some extent. For example blue and yellow come out as a lite green and red and white turns into a lite pink. The colors are more vivid as you up the volume of the dual color tower. The towers as you can imagine are considerably heavy. 

Tweaking

 

After much tweaking the printer was able to print my model in dual colors. Some of the colors seem to be mixed to a small extent. I have tried to print other models too but also found that the z-hop should be used to prevent the nozzle from slightly hitting stray filament and knocking the x-axis off. So what do I think about this printer?

 

Thoughts on other Wanhao Printers

 

I love this printer! I am in fact printing Christmas decorations on it right now. I have other projects planned for the future. My other printer has been the Wanhao Di3, which has been heavily upgraded over the years. One of the things I hated about the Di3 was the tiny thumb screws used for leveling the bed. Wanhao replaced these with what looks like the knobs that are used to turn on and off your outdoor watering hose.

A Fun Printer

 

Wanhao has gone out of its way with this printer, resolving the issues of the past which have plagued users of their products. I believe this is because they constantly listen to their customers comments. While I did discover some issues with the D12/230, it for the most part is a fun printer! If you are new to the hobby, this printer will work for you, but please keep in mind that 3D printing is still a very young hobby and there is a learning curb for new users. If you are a moderate to expert user you will enjoy all the features in this printer.

 

Conclusion

 

The D12 has a reasonable price point of $259, making it a value printer.  The build surface needs to be replaced.  The large color towers are a product of Cura, so I can't knock Wanhao for that, but other slicers such as the PrusaSlicer do a better job in saving wasted filament. The D12 requires a lot of tweaking and has a learning curve when it comes to dual colors. It was very easy to assemble and the WiFi makes it simple to load the prints. I would recommend this printer to anyone in the hobby that want enjoys 3D printing. While there are upgrades that I will make in the future, I don’t believe they are required to enjoy what this printer can do for you.