ELEGOO Mercury X Bundle, Wash and Cure Machine for Large Resin 3D Printed Models, Compatible with Saturn, Mars MSLA 3D Printers

Elegoo Wash & Cure StationElegoo MercuryWash & Cure StationI will start right off with my final thoughts in this product so if that’s all that you want to know whether its worth buying or not, then I would say yes. More specifically for the price it does its job well, not without a few quarks here and there but it works well.-- -- The Full Review -- --First off I will say that I purchased this product myself on Amazon for $120.00 US, I thought it was a bit expensive and was a big purchase for me in addition to the printer itself and I wasn’t sure if it was money well spent. After using it for about six months now I can say yes I am completely happy with my purchase, I think it was worth every penny. I will go over each of its functions and their pros and cons as well as build quality and cost for value. I won’t be comparing this to an ultrasonic cleaner as I do not own one, however I personally believe this works really well in place of one and I like that I get both cleaning and curing with this same unit. Double our pleasure double your fun!-- Wash FunctionThe washing function works well, there’s room for a little improvement but overall it functions as it should. It washing half the time in one direction then switches direction for the rest of the duration. I find it gets my prints very clean and I have been exceptionally happy with the result. Especially if you pre wash your models, which I do, I have container that I wash off the bulk of the resin in so its my messy cloudy container then I throw them in the wash station and they come out squeaky clean! I think our favorite cleaning bald man would approve...There are two downsides to the wash function one is the basket, if you are washing minis which I often do, or just small parts, they can go through the rather large holes in the basket, especially if you remove your support before you wash. Theres an easy fix for this I attached a scrap piece of screen material, you know the stuff you have on your porch or deck to keep skeeters out, you could also use metal mesh as well in place of the plastic screen material.The other issue is with the wash bin itself, but make sure you don’t overload the bin with models if there is too much in there it can’t move the liquid around enough to get them clean. Also there is a bit of a maintenance part with your bin as well, you will want to make sure that you do not cure any plastic in the rinse liquid in the bin itself because this can gum up the bearing in the bottom of the bin and cause it to get stuck and not spin as easily, so just empty out the old cloudy liquid into another bin and then sit that out in the sun. Then clean it a bit with pure alcohol or cleaner then put the new liquid in this will keep the bearing spinning well and keep it for gumming up.I haven’t noticed any issues with keeping the cleaning liquid in the bin for a long period of time either, mine has been in it for 3 months now and it still works fine, even my 15% alcohol & water mix. One thing to note that the wash containers or bin are not easily available at the Moment but you can get them from Elegoo if needed.Okay I lied there one more thing about the bin which could be an improved and this really is just picking at grass now, the lid seals well but the latches are a bit strangely constructed so they can be a bit difficult to latch at times. Though they loosen up after a few times and get easier to latch, thought it was worth mentioning.Another great feature I thought worth mentioning is that if you have a Mars series printer or something around that size then you can use the supplied plate holder and place your entire mars build plate in the wash bin, you know if that’s your thing. I haven’t used this feature as I own Saturn and the build plate is far too large. Maybe we’ll get a Jupiter one of these days to accompany our Saturn. Hahaha! Wink, wink!-- Curing FunctionThe curing process is as easy as button away you just swap out your wash bin for the curing turn table which magnets into place very easily with some pegs, set your time and you’re ready to go. Just remember to put that lid on before you hit any buttons or it will scream at you with some rhythmic beeps of an upset safety violation till you do. One thing I wish they had done here is allowed you to set your settings with the lid on or off then yell at you when you try be truly unsafe but activating the those intended settings with the play button. I feel the beeping is great if you try to hit go and the lid is still off but sometimes I just want to change a setting and I can’t do that, though this is really just a trivial issue honestly.So how good of a job does it really do curing? Great, actually! I have been very happy with the results so far it does perfectly cured prints. Now if you have a Saturn like I do then you won’t be able to wash or cure prints the size of your build entire build plate but I rarely have such large things, though if you do then you will have to use an alternative curing method, at least until they come out with the “Jupiter” hint, hint, Elegoo make a big Jupiter wash station for us who need it. The Jupiter thing by the way at the time of writing this is not a real thing so if your reading this at the time I wrote this it doesn’t exist and may not even be called that, just saying at the moment don’t stress out if your looking all over the internet for an Elegoo Jupiter and you can’t find it, because it doesn’t exist!The LEDs in the curing station work very well and cure things nice and fast, they have two different wavelengths so it should have no problem curing whichever resin you use. All in all there isn’t much else to say about this, it spins it cures it does what it does and it does it well. As a side note I suppose its possible you could cure your prints right on your mars build plate though I’m not sure why you would want to do that, but you could, because you can do anything, that, you want.-- Build QualityOkay I have to say I have been really impressed with the build quality of Elegoo products, I have yet to own something they make that isn’t built well at least from what I can tell anyways from the things that I have.Its made of powder coated metal with exception of the plastic lid, bin and turntable of course, which to be honest I love color of the wash station that yellow is sexy, my personal opinion, don’t judge me!The unit is very sturdy I feel like I could drop it like its hot and it would live, I Would NOT Suggest Doing That Though!!!! It would probably break LOL... But it feels that tough, it feels like a small space-tank probe drifting through the galaxy on a mission to Saturn town, or Mars whichever you prefer. Okay admittedly that got a little weird. But really the build quality is nice and its heavy, I didn’t expect it to be that heavy.-- So Would I Buy This?!-- Should You Buy This?!Well to the first question I already did and I love it and lets be honest I can be lazy and I love efficiency and this checks both those boxes for me. I can throw a model in the little robot forget about it come back after a sandwich with squeaky clean perfection and mustard and ham, though... keep the sandwich away from wash station, resin and alcohol don’t mix well. So, yes I would buy this for myself I like the time it saves me and the ease of use it gives me and if you want my wash station you’ll have to pry it from cold dead mustard covered fingers.But should you buy it, well that depends, is saving time important to you, do you find yourself longing for an additional robot machine friend to hang out with because you have no life because all you do is print minis and you can’t do anything else because you need more minis and your life just isn’t complete without them!!! breathe... But seriously the Mercury saves me time so that I can multi task it also does a great job. It’s just a simply and easy to use and it looks great doing it. So if that’s for you then go for it you won’t regret it!But is it worth 120.00 well that’s something you would have to answer for your self I think it is, but you need to decide that and now hopefully you can. I will say this that if built a wash station and cure staton myself it would cost me about the same so I wasn’t saving other than time.My final thoughtsWell I don’t have much more to say, its a great little robot, its built well, does its job well and has very few issues or quarks to deal with what more can I say.I hope this helps you make a decision on whether the mercury wash & cure station is the right fit for you and I hope my rantings didn’t chase you away into a dark corner to hide from my horrible corny jokes.Have a great day and make your world!Review by Nathan Gabriel of PlasticArcade

I have been resin printing for a couple of months now. I dislike the cleanup involved and have seen similar machines that were just too expensive. I think this one is definitely worth the $120 price tag. I personally would not pay more than that though. I mostly decided on this because I had been wanting a better washing/curing setup. I was looking at spending around $90 to copy a friends setup when I saw this. It just seemed easier. I use 70% IPA to clean my prints. I have noticed less residue on prints since using this machine. I think leftover residue was caused by my method of shaking and brushing which was just not long enough to reduce white residue. This machine has simplified that, I am able to increase the wash time by pushing a button. I have no complaints about the washing settings. The cure lights also work well.So what do I like about this machine? I think the price is good, (less would be better), results of cleaning are better than my old method, build quality is nice, and it easy to use.Now for things I do not like, which honestly have nothing to do with workflow or how easy the machine is to use, it really is a great machine. The buttons to switch between modes are really loud. Maybe there is a way to turn it down, I have not found that option though. The noise of the machine is not bad when running; however, when the fan starts to spin it makes a high-pitch noise that is really loud before reaching speed and quieting down. I really think for $120 they should have included a second container and one with a better quality lid. The lid works and does not leak, but it feels cheap when compared to the rest of what you get.I think if you are on the fence about investing in one of these and you do a ton of printing like me, just pick one up! You will not regret it.

So in my experience if you have one of the Elegoo printers (Mars, Mars Pro, Mars 2, Mars 2 Pro) or a printer of similar dimensions then this is the perfect all in one solution for washing and curing. This worked perfectly with 70-90% Isopropyl and works even better with 200% denatured alcohol. After a wash cycle there is no stickiness at all.I had originally planned to make my own curing station with a rotating base and a UV LED and washing station with an ultrasonic cleaner. However, I was concerned with possible fire hazards with the ultrasonic vaporizing excessive flammable vapor. I came across this device and it was perfect. It combined both washing and curing in a small affordable package and I am glad that I decided to get it.Favorite Features:1. You can dip the entire Elegoo Mars print bed into the washing tank cleaning the print and the bed at the same time. This saves time in my workflow and I really like this feature2. All in one work flow saves me alot of time and keeps the mess lowBelow are some things to know before you buy. None of the things below are big deals but I want to provide honest feedback/observations for anyone looking to get this product:1. Extra/Replacement wash containers are not YET sold on amazon I hope in the future they will sell them so that I can get an extra one to extend the life of my washing solution. However, if you need one just contact their customer support and they will totally take care of you :)2. The main motor that drives the spinning of the magnetic stirrer and the rotation of the plexi glass stand for stirring emits a noticeable stepper motor whine when it is moving at max speed while operating in the wash mode. Its about as loud as a normal 3D printer stepper motor making a fast move without micro stepping. This is not really that big of a deal for two reasons. One it is in my garage, and two the washing process isn't really that long so even if I was not in my garage it would not really bother me all that much.3. Just like stated in the description this is not really designed for water washable resin. I tried it out and it kind of worked but water washable resin really needs some flowing water to get it clean. I am also new to resin printing so I will update this if I figure out how to make this more effective with water.4. The beeping noise that is emitted when you press the buttons is kind of loud and to my knowledge cannot be shut off (It's like the same volume as a microwave). This does not really bother me though but it is just something to know.