Voxelab Aquila S3 Review - Watch BEFORE you purchase

Great silent printer despite many drawbacks, still 5 star printer.
Amazon link:
www.amazon.ca/...
Offset configuration:
Go to Cura Manage Printers - 3 little bars and then press activate
Machine Settings - Make sure you don't choose custom printer when initially installing the printer profile, use the Ender S3 Pro V2 Profile instead.
Ensure the following settings
printer
x- 220
y- 220
Z-250
Make sure origin at centre is unselected
Printhead settings
x min: -26
Y min: -32
x max: 32
y max: 34
Gantry height: 25

[@origamiboy4309]

This guy needs more subs! come on people he's awesome

[@SLPSRocks]

Thanks for the kind words, motivates me to make some more videos!

[@ElijahPartney]

A way to fix the Z offset issue. Is before you auto home, set the offset to zero. After auto homing, set it back to what the original was. This is the best solution I found for this machine. Personally, having one myself. It really sucks.

[@rodmanunderhilliii8198]

The offset is set to 0; it came that way. The z access is also set to 0 in the move area of the controls. I had heard that the v1 and v2 Z offset, in the controls, of the machine did not function, is that still true? I'm wondering if my machine is broken, that's why I ask. I tried to lower my Z offset, using the offset Z built in the control area. After auto leveling I went to -.5, and after pressing the know, then even going "back", the Z axis never changed. I even tried down to -2, and still, no movement.

[@chariolarios2797]

Good video! I agree on all of the pros and cons that you notated! I’ve had mine since dec, extruder motor went out possibly due to my negligence and can’t find an exact replacement anywhere, im possibly looking at changing the whole extruder/hotend assembly but would prefer to keep the original setup as it does print pretty good,if you or anyone knows where I can find an exact stepper motor replacement for this? Aquila S3 factory extruder motor stepper motor specs as follows: Nema17 d type-42 23 4 wire. shaft diameter-3mm Shaft length-4mm 12 tooth brass gear. thanks all… Yes I’ve tried looking everywhere but maybe i missed somewhere lol..

[@bradenhenderson1332]

They won’t update it. It’s been the same way for over a year. They abandoned this printer for new projects. I have had it for a long time, managed to use some engineering grade materials too. But since it’s so much of a hassle every time to print it just sits the corner while other printers get used.

[@bradenhenderson1332]

Oh and the ribbon cable does have a tendency to get on the track of the v wheels. And the printer runs right over it destroying it lol

[@SLPSRocks]

I agree it really is annoying to use, full of flaws but I haven't seen anything like it for the price point.

[@bradenhenderson1332]

@@SLPSRocks good review though! Not tryna shoot it down by any means

[@SLPSRocks]

@@bradenhenderson1332 Thanks! No I am not concerned about that. Your opinion matters and this video is for the people! So as long as its helpful discussion I'm all for it

[@Mik_S]

The ABL is an inductive sensor not an optical one so you need to keep this in mind if you replace the bed, if you used a glass one it will never trigger. Some people have had issues with this sensor and it may be due to a bend as the cable enters the sensor, same issue for the X3. I have seen reports of pulling this cable though the harness to give some extra slack will help on the X3 but not sure what can be done on the S3 as it has a tool-head board. There is another point of failure with these sensors as it uses a converter board to isolate it due to it needing 24v to work, and this would damage the motherboard if it shorted out. It taps in to 24v from the hotend fan screw terminal. If you are using Cura then you need to set up the start Gcode to enable the ABL. You can create a mesh first on the printer and save it to memory to recall it with M420 S1, or start the probing procedure each time with G29. This has to be after G28 as this clears any mesh. If either is missing then this will be the reason it is not being used. These should be set up if using Voxelmaker and the right profile. Stock firmware is not very good so is better to use custom firmware like Mriscoc. There is a repository on Github maintained by Classicrocker883 for the Aquila that is regularly updated (you can use the X3 firmware but will need to adjust the ABL offsets). This has options to set the offsets in the firmware instead of the slicer. If you move the nozzle to 0,0 then the sensor will be off the side of the bed, this is correct as it uses the centre of the bed to home Z. I never liked the way they have this ribbon cable. If it was coming from the rear cable tied to something then it would put excess strain on the connection to the plug and I also suspected it could fatigue the wire, but hanging over the front could get in the way of printing too. They should have had it so the cable runs parallel to the X-axis and fixed to a point near the X limit switch housing. This would let it move in a similar way to a cable chain and it does not twist the cable.

[@heyomymayo272]

Thanks alot for taking the time to do a review. I just ordered mine. My main plan is to use recycled filament which after a week of trying i think i finally got the hang of. It is about the same size as basic filament and hard to tell the difference but I have a anycubic kobra neo 2 that was not bad but does not have a high enough max nozzle temperature for it. I am a beginner at 3d printing and so far am loving it but I am not trying to make any big modifications so I hope this printer will be a good fit.

[@Perkeletricksterservantofrher]

what a mad lad.

[@SLPSRocks]

I'll take that as a compliment mate, happy DIYing, cheers

[@rodmanunderhilliii8198]

Very helpful post, thank you. I just received my new Aquila S3 two days ago. I tried to run the ribbon cable around the side, as you did. The length of the ribbon cable seems to short, to route it this way. Do you have any more suggestions on how to route the ribbon cable, as it is OEM?

[@SLPSRocks]

If you unscrew the box from the bottom you might be able to obtain a little more slack on the ribbon cable and route it through the side. Unfortunately I don't have any suggestions since I had to lengthen my cable and resolder ever single individual cable. But I watched another KZbinr and they were the ones to suggest a side mount, I think they even created a 3D printed guide for the cable thats attached to the X gantry. As long as it's not getting tugged from the movement of the Y or Z axis it should be fine.

[@rodmanunderhilliii8198]

@@SLPSRocks Thank you for the reply. Even though I haven't been able to get a print yet, because my bed is so much lower than the nozzle, the extruder was low enough where the cable was being rammed into by the bed, going back and forward. I currently have had the cable routed from the back, because of the length shortcoming. I would not have noticed that colliding between the bed and the cable, if I had not seen your video. I tried manually leveling the S3 by setting it to home, then disabling the stepper motors, but never could get the bed close enough to the nozzle to level it at that height. Do you have a link to a manual leveling, for the S3? I've seen how to do it with a v2, but the S3 doesn't have a z 'stop' , so what I watched doesn't seem to apply to the S3..

[@rodmanunderhilliii8198]

@@SLPSRocks Yes, that sounds like it might do the trick. While I've been trying to get the bed close enough to the nozzle to then be able to do a manual level, I noticed the ribbon cable touching the shaft of the Z Axis, when the machine is checking the auto levels, of the front of the bed. If I can ever get the nozzle close enough, to the bed and get a print, I will first work on some sort of barrier, that attaches to the x gantry.

[@toad4196]

It's surprising they didn't include a save configuration option like they have on the S2 pro version that has the same kind of leveling sensor

[@LegitLeeVelez]

Can you make a video on how to do the bed leveling for this to start printing I just got mine in yesterday and I have been trying everything to get it to adhere to the bed it's always to far away from the bed!

[@NickSeee]

Hi mine was the same when going for first print about half an hour ago. No Z limit switch so most YT content doesn't help you. As far as I could tell only solution was Z offset, which on mine is now -3.13 to provide noticeable friction on a sheet of paper. Once that was set, first print success.

[@LegitLeeVelez]

@@NickSeee okay sounds like you got it to work but I had to return it to Amazon because of the machine not being able to push out any filament because of the exstuder!

[@NickSeee]

Sorry to hear that Lee

[@LegitLeeVelez]

@@NickSeee yea I was hoping that it was going to be like my longer lk5 pro because that is a clone of the cr10 and this one is the clone of the ender 3 but it failed me!

[@Nicholas.K.]

Подскажите пожалуйста, сколько шагов на миллиметр (strp/mm) для мотора экструдера? Спасибо.

[@Bananaman-u6d]

What slice are you use for the printer because that’s the only problem I’m having because I think I’m using the wrong slice

[@SLPSRocks]

Cura. Always use Cura. Never use Voxemaker or some other gibberish software.

[@ksan8222]

I just took this out of the box and set it up and can't get it to level and print. The nozzle does not touch the plate when leveling. If I use the Control screen option and Z offset it does nothing, no movement at all. The only way to move the plate is to manually turn the Z screw. But that doesn't work either. I don't know what the trick to getting this to set up and print correctly, but if there's another video out there please let me know.

[@SLPSRocks]

You messed up something in the installation and likely something is unplugged within the circuit board, check the connections by unscrewing the 4 bolts on the side and bottom. My cousin had the exact same problem, a connector was disconnected. GL

[@everythingrandom1381]

@@SLPSRocks I have the same issue, but I've checked the circuit board with everything connected. What ends up happening is that instead of moving closer to the print bed, the nozzle just moves upwards, immediately putting it out of reach of the sensor. I don't know why it's messed up like this.

[@SLPSRocks]

@@everythingrandom1381 Thats very strange. I seen a newbie have this same problem, his setup had a whole bunch of things wrong with it and the circuit board connection was the culprit. You need to trace every where and make sure there is continuity. I would take a multimeter and test continuity on every 16 wire that leads to the extruder from the connector that attaches to the circuit board. Ofc you can always just return it on amazon and get another printer to exchange. Happy hunting

[@Mik_S]

@@everythingrandom1381 when it only moves up it means the signal wire is not connected from the ABL so it is reading open. This is a safety feature to prevent the nozzle driving into the bed if the ABL (or Z-limit switch on other models) is disconnected. This has happened quite a lot on Reddit for the X3/S3 and may be due to the ABL cable being too tight so that has pulled a wire inside the sensor. Some have said pulling the the cable though the harness to give a bit more slack at the sensor on the X3 can fix it but as the S3 has a tool-head board the you can't do the same thing. It is also has another point of failure as these inductive sensors need 24v to work and this needs to be isolated from the motherboard so it uses an opto-isolator on a converter board to do this. This board is also taps in to 24v from the hotend fan terminal. This is something that needs someone with one of these machines with a faulty sensor, and has the ability and knowledge to dissect it to confirm the problem. It is most likely a manufacturing defect as there are too many reports to be a one off fault.

[@jake3040]

do you know where i can buy a replacedment build sheet for this printer, seems like it needs to have the shiny pad for the sensor

[@kerrisemlow3297]

Hello i am new to 3d printer. I have voxelab aquila s3, and I'm stuck on what to do because I don't have a computer. So i googled it and said that i really don't need a computer to print. Please tell me what to do because I have know idea, do i just use the sdcard and use cura and slice it or do i need to do the software first?? Please help

[@arnobashtar6707]

There are plenty of beginner 3D printer videos on KZbin. This is not a complete beginner printer You can pretend it’s an Ender 3 or CR-10. Watch some older 3D printer videos and then you’ll build the foundation for this 3D printer

[@kerrisemlow3297]

@@arnobashtar6707 thank you for your info . Lol like I said it's all new to me ! I hate to return it and get a refund if I can figure out how to use it without a computer but ill figure it out

[@rogersmith258]

Do you know how to access the tension screw in the extruder for the S3? I need to tension mine but I cant seem to figure out how to access it. I tried accessing it once but now it freezes when I try to print the test files when it printed fine before.

[@Tattoo666PEEL]

i just ordered this one on amazon for 179$ its my first printer. you scared me a bit but ill manage

[@GageHayda]

I don’t know what is happening with mine it won’t auto level. It’s like it’s not even on and it just sits at a stand still when I tried to auto level it. What do I do

[@SLPSRocks]

No have not seen that before in mine, but I have seen someone else have issues with the Auto homing which was caused by an unplugged connector in the hub around the motherboard. You most likely have an issue with the connections somewhere. If so, I wouldn't be surprised that the other features too don't work. I would start by checking that the red light is on for the optical sensor around the print head. check that you can move the axis all freely one at a time (including the extruder) Also would be a good idea to reset configurations for the printer and seeing if that fixes the problem. Open the motherboard of the printer by unscrewing the two side casing bolts at the front left of the frame. Next there are 4 screws at the bottom. Unscrew them to access the motherboard. Ensure all the connections and connectors there too are intact. If you still have an issue, start tracing the wires with a multimeter and check for continuity by using either a multimeter with sharp pointed tips or another pin or narrow metal conductive material. You will take continuity readings for all the wires in the ribbon cable. If the internal break is in the ribbon cable, you can also sometimes "fix" these temporarily by massaging the ribbon cable with your fingers, flexing it in different directions. Try doing that and pressing autolevel. Good luck, comment back if you figure it out... sounds like you have a fun repair on your hands

[@Nyro-FPV]

this is my first an propably last 3p printer it sucks

[@JustGoAndFly]

Cant just buy a longer ribbon cable?

[@SLPSRocks]

I'm not too savvy with Ribbon cables but I couldn't find one, if you happen to know where you can get one including the correct connector for the motherboard let me know and I'll link it in the description for the folks.