With more and more resin 3D printers entering a packed marketplace on a seemingly daily basis, companies are starting to push out more accessories and products to make this somewhat messy 3D printing medium both easier and cleaner.
Enter washing and curing machines, devices to make the entire post-production process a lot smoother by doing their level best to stop you from getting your hands (quite literally) dirty. In theory, they save you the hassle of hand-washing your prints in isopropanol (IPA) – a simultaneously stinky, hazardous, and necessary step – as well as the stage of leaving your prints out in the sun or a homemade blacklight construction. Instead, these helpful little machines should take care of that for you.
Sticking to its celestial track, Elegoo offers the Mercury (which is limited to curing only – no washing), and more recently the Mercury Plus, a combined wash and cure machine.
Priced at about $120, the Mercury Plus is the priced competitively of the wash and cure machines we know of.
Features
Build Plate Mount
At first glance, the Elegoo Mercury Plus looks eerily similar to Anycubic’s Wash & Cure machine, but there are notable differences on closer inspection. Most significantly, it comes with a build plate mount for the Elegoo Mars resin 3D printer, which lets you wash your print and the build plate together, reducing the likelihood of touching the uncured resin.
Container to Wash Multiple Prints
If you want to wash multiple prints simultaneously, the Mercury Plus also comes with a basket to put them all in together into the machine.
Adjustable Bracket
You don’t have to fill the IPA bucket to the top, thanks to the Mercury Plus’ adjustable plate-holding bracket. Just lower the plate to the IPA you do have.
Safety features
The Mercury Plus’ protective cover blocks most UV rays output by the unit’s bank of LEDs, protecting you and the room from its high-intensity light. The Mercury Plus also cuts out if the cover is lifted, protecting you from the UV light and splashing chemicals.
Suitable for many models
You don’t need to own an Elegoo printer to use its Washing and Curing machine, but you should make sure your prints’ dimensions will fit within it. The maximum print size it can handle is 125 x 85 x 160 mm.
User Interface
There are four buttons on the front of the Mercury Plus for selecting the mode of operation (washing or curing), increasing the run time, decreasing the run time, and beginning or pausing the job. A simple display to the left of the controls gives the time remaining and an indicator of the currently selected mode. Seems pretty foolproof.
Additional features:
- 385nm and 405nm UV curing lamp beads
- 360-degree rotating curing turntable
- POM rotor
Release Date & Availability
Good news first, the Elegoo Mercury Plus has been listed on the likes of Amazon for over a year now. The bad? Like we often find with Elegoo’s products, availability can be a bit patchy. The Elegoo Mercury Plus is no different – you may have a hard time finding units for sale at Amazon or other retailers, but if you keep an eye out, you’re sure to find them in stock at some point.
Price
Though it has a list price of $249, the Elegoo Mercury Plus can consistently be picked up for closer to $120, making it cheaper even than the Anycubic Wash & Cure. As with any form of online shopping, looking around for a bit can pay off and there’s a good chance you can save a dollar or two here and there, but don’t expect any bigger discounts on this particular product.
Reviews
Early Amazon reviews have been very enthusiastic about the Mercury Plus’s potential to finish off your prints and save all the hassle of doing it yourself. Still, there have also been a few criticisms regarding noise levels, which are said to be pretty high.
A consensus can also be found on Reddit, where users have also given largely positive feedback. However, we’d caution that after a little digging around, we’ve found that some have doubts over the quality of the lid and the machine’s long-term durability. This aside, though, there’s the sense that those frequently printing in resin will find a real benefit in using the Mercury Plus.
Tech Specs
General specs
- Manufacturer: Elegoo
- Type: Curing & Washing
- UV light: 405nm & 385nm
- Maximum model size for washing: 125 x 85 x 160 mm
- Maximum model size for curing: Ø 140 x 165 mm
Similar Machines
Original Prusa Curing and Washing Machine (CW1)
If you’ve got a Prusa SL1 resin 3D printer and don’t mind splashing out some more cash to make the process easier and stay within the Prusa family, the CW1 is a solid option.
Anycubic Wash & Cure
The Anycubic Wash & Cure looks a lot like the Mercury Plus, but it’s more readily available. The downside is this machine is more expensive.
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