Zortrax M200 Review

I have been using a M200 for about a year now, so I figured it is about time for me to share my experience. I have printed a ton of stuff and survived two in-warranty repairs, a few in-house quick fixes, and countless firmware/software upgrades.

The main thing that fails is the extruder head. The ribbon cable has a tendency to bend and the wire will stop making good connections with the motor in the head. The machine will then fail to unload or load new material. The motor will just spin endlessly or click in an annoying fashion. There is also an issue where the last bit of the material will get stuck in the head and not unload if you run the material out (accidentally) while printing. You then have to tear down the head and remove the piece yourself (while the head is hot) with pliers; It is a pain. There is no sensor in the head to indicate that the material has run out, so be careful to watch it.

The size and weight are manageable and the machine is fairly easy to move around on your own.

The platform is heated so it has electrical connectors in two places. The plugs are at the back of the platform (bad design in my opinion) because when you scrap your model off you can hit these connectors and destroy your platform.  

There is an auto-calibration function that you can run once you install your platform. There are three knobs under the platform that raise it up and down. This function works well with the latest software updates (it used to take forever). It does sometimes fail and you have to turn off the machine, manually press the platform down, and then restart.

The M200 does not plug directly into Ethernet so you have to use an SD card to load files, which can be a pain.

The support material works well and is fairly easy to remove with pliers, a paint scrapper or a blade.  It does not really work for hollow pieces where you need to remove the support in close quarters. It has a tendency to get stuck and ruin these sort of surfaces. You can print decently without the support as long as your overhangs are not too sharp or significant.

TLDR: Good machine, has a few quirks you have to learn, but once you do you can stay printing pretty much 24/7.

Pros: Good quality prints, one extruder head with optional material support. Prints ABS, and few other fancier materials. Easy-to-manage size, good quality metal frame.

Cons: Taking out the build plate is a pain (too many screws). Delaminating occurs without frequent tear down of the build plate, and propriety materials (though they aren’t too expensive). No material sensor.

Some Samples Prints