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In several years of 3D printingI, I have bougth several printers and I use these quite a lot.
So, as a general matter of interest, here is my question.
What would/should be the life expectancy of a (consumer/prosumer) 3D printer?
Or, in other words, how many hours should one expect to be able to print with his/her printer before a major failure might occur?
Of course, one would expect a difference between a 400$ 3DP kit or a fully assembled printer costing 2-3K$.
Theres no real limit. You just replace little parts as they wear out, and the printer will keep going indefinitely. Every once in a while you might have to replace a major component like a board or power supply but these failures are rare in my experience.Your printer is likely to be phased out from being obsolete than worn out.
Like 3DFlying said theres no real time limit since you can keep switching out parts but the life expectancy of the parts is hard to determine because you can get a short from bad wiring or by moving the machine around or never experience any issues. personally ive burnt out motors, boards, etc but you replace and keep on going
The life of a general 3D Printer could well depend on the manner it is managed and kept. You could expect it to last a long time while it gets proper care and performs printing jobs regularly.
However, if it is kept aloof or has not been employed for a large number of days, the life of the 3D printer could experience a major setback.
