Is there still any resale market for a decent Taz Pro?
I had to virtually give away a working Taz 6 recently because I needed the space.
I’d hate to have to do the same with the Pro.
Not really.
Toolchangers in the sub-$1000 run circles around it. That’s what people are going to compare it with. A $900 U1 may have a little less build area, but it has proper bed leveling, four materials, easily enclosed, a warranty, speed… while we know there is little chance there are going to be replacement parts for those 100% proprietary printers in 3 years, that’s not a big concern for most people buying them.
Are there going to be replacement parts for the Taz Pro? Absolutely. It’s open-source and easily sourced commercial parts. It’s easily adapted to use whatever you can get your hands on.
If you’re buying a new toolchanger for longevity, you might go with a Pro, but most would go with a PrusaXL at this point. If you want a printing appliance to use for a few years and upgrade when the tech moves on? Get a Snapmaker U1 or upcoming Flashforge Creator 5. Best of both worlds? Hold out for something with the Bondtech INDX system.
If you maintain them, the Pro will be around forever, but the “trade-in” value is so low that you really should just be running it until the wheels fall off, or find somebody else who will maintain it.
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Search eBay completed auctions, get a sense of the price they are selling for. You’ll get something, but not what you may want.
I purchased a TAZ Pro on eBay for $600 plus shipping. That is my limit for a Pro as many other 3D printers now outperform it with multiple heads and faster printing speed. Granted, it is built like a tank, and you can upgrade easily, but 2.85mm filament is getting harder to find especially in some of the never types. I added the Pro to my Lulzbot collection of various models, and it fits there well because I have no need for faster speed over longevity of operation as I design and print “one offs”. Price is everything on eBay so consider radically lowering it to get a fast sale and make someone’s day!
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Our pro dual technically still works still but we’ve had a good 6 year run with it… Despite MANY setbacks due to my inexperience and legitimate machine errors. Hopefully we can find a good home for it and all this unused material. 3mm filament is quickly exiting the industry and we have so much remaining.
This is a good place to try and offload the 2.85mm filament, but I think many are trying to make the shift to 1.75mm. My modded Taz6 is great at using it, but there’s only so much I need to print to support other hobbies or keeping the kids happy.
I’ve got a great design for a 1.75mm modification to the Pro’s toolhead, but the cost of two orbiter extruders, quality hotends and time invested make it a hard sell when new toolchangers are hitting the market this summer.
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We’ll be putting it up on a Wisconsin state auction later this year if I have any say about it. My hope to recoup any losses due to this machine’s hardware fails and put the proceeds toward a new printer.
If the auction is only feasible for locals to purchase, don’t expect much. I picked up my Pro for $200 from a school. I was the only bidder. $2 (thermistor and re-printed part cooling duct) and a couple hours of work/print to get it back to “as-new” operations. I’ve put about $250 more into it to build it into a great 1.75mm dual tool machine, which seems like a good deal, but $450 is a Centauri Carbon 2, or 2/3rds of a Creator 5 at this point.
Value is in maintainability on these now, because the technology has just improved so much in the last 2-3 years.
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True that. I wasn’t expecting a machine we paid $8K for 5.5 years ago to become a money pit.
A concern I have on changing out to 1.75mm is that well- I have backlogged so much 2.85mm filament that it has sat around for years. It is all still usable, even the more brittle ‘clear’ filament.
Since I go through filament pretty slowly, will the 1.75mm filament be more prone to breakage if it sits around in its box for a few years? Again, I have filament that is years old and none of it ever gives me any problem when printing… so have been $$conservative$$ in terms of (a) moving onto a Prusa and (b) considering a new print head.
I do have two giant rolls of PCMAX in 1.75mm so assumably will eventually find out for myself!
So far though- no problems printing years-old PLA + PCMAX filaments. Thanks.
Making your own single-extruder 1.75mm can be done for very cheap, but trying to keep the servo mechanism and going dual is well, at least twice as expensive for obvious reasons, but also much more complicated. Easiest way is swapping the titan aeros for hemeras. With them, it was only a new part cooling shroud and cable cap piece on top (the parts in orange here):
You lose some reach with the left extruder, and you need to do some wiring as well, but it works pretty well.