The original post:

Dad and I have a Wanhao Duplicator i3 Plus. It used to work correctly in the beginning, yet the more dad and I started to print, the more the printer fails. One time it prints a flawless print, but the next time it starts scratching the bed. Dad has checked every little problem what causes these problems. He keeps on levelling, he cleaned the extruder head several times. Etc, etc. Do you people perhaps have an idea what causes the printer to do this?

<Note: The Wanhao Duplicator i3 Plus is $550CAD>
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This F'n guy:
Sell your printer, and invest into a Prusa Mk2 or 3 is my recommendation.

<Note: the Prusa Mk3 is $1375CAD>
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Me:
"Sell it and get a better one for twice the price. Make no attemmps to understand the problem, fix it by throwing money at it." I'm sorry, but that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

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This F'n guy:
I'm sorry, but do you even operate a prusa? I have operated on dozens, designed and printed thousands of parts, and also worked for three different industrial 3D print companies. Your comment has almost zero merit. Yes, cost is a factor, but a cohesive and reliable platform also solves a lot of consumer problems. I print on many platforms daily and also fix machines.


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Me:
My comment has all the merit here. Prusas are amazing, the gold standard of bedslingers, but you're naive if you think they're not prohibitively expensive.

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This F'n guy:
Prusa leveling and quality is worth the price. I know because I maintain some. They care about their brand and have solved a lot of consumer problems by innovation. Run to the bottom and fixing/upgrading is not for everyone.

I disagree and we'll leave it at that.

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Me:
Sounds good to me. Let's see who she listens to.


<Note: This was kind of sneaky by me, by this point she's already responded to my comment, and essentially accepted my advice outright>
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This F'n guy:
This father & daughter team is most certainly going to try to repair because that is why most people join this group ... to get recommendations and help to repair ... and my experience is that they will, based on feedback here by other members. They will trudge through troubleshooting because once you invest into a printer, you kind of become attached to it. That's great for learning.

However, that doesn't change my recommendation to move to a Prusa. Cost is why Prusa offered up a Mini ... a backlog and commitment to quality is why it was delayed a few times.  I know because I have the candid emails. I know there is dislike for Prusa for a few reasons, including cost & "hype", but the company is committed to customers and their experiences.

Not necessarily saying Prusa is the best company in the whole 3D Printing world, but certainly in the top 10 in consumer market ... at least they do care about their brand. It shows across sw, hw, materials ... I am really tempted to call their support and see how good it is ... I might even get a response from a human voice, or at least an email in a timely manner.

Not saying Prusa is the ONLY choice, but when I saw the poor bed, my gut reaction was: That would have not likely happened with a Prusa. Certainly could recommend some other options ... even a second machine like they have to be able to switch between and reduce downtime.

If Frannie and/or Dad wants me to send an .STL to print on a Prusa, I'd be up to do it for free ... show the quality of print and a timelapse of ease of operation. Maybe to sway them into a Prusa mini investment down the road.

Also willing to help locate a possible makerspace in their area that might offer up a Prusa, or a farm of printers so they can get a hands-on experience.

Being candid about the Wanhao platform ... first i3 I got, the cheapo limit switches literally broke off and first thing I replaced ... they did an ok job about shipping a printer that had been calibrated ... even had a print left on the bed that was decent quality ... filament holder was cheaply made for sure, but maybe current models are better ... overall, I was able to get prints immediately, but I could see many issues that a typical consumer would face. It's my "experiment" machine for exotic materials, now.

I have seen a lot of printers wind up on the side of the road, literally ... and many "run to the bottom" printers that have probably left many consumers with bad printing experiences just for the sake of making a few bucks. Surely, some have accepted challenges and brought their machines up to a Prusa standard level and beyond ... but at a cost of time and resources. That's great too, just sad that not many other companies are committed to quality across a whole platform.

Anyways, just some thoughts.

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Me:
So much for leaving it at that, huh?

Tell me, if someone wanted to teach their kid 3D printing because they felt it was an important skill, something that would give them a leg up in the game, even something that could yield some real quality time, but (and I'm not implying it's the case here) the family is on a fixed income, or recovering from medical debt or bankruptcy, and there was no physical way they could afford a Prusa, what would you tell them? "Too bad, so sad, try again when you have more money?" or "Hey, send me an STL and let me show you what you can't afford?" How about "Your printer isn't a Prusa and you're doomed to failure, you're better off giving up and going into more debt to buy this awesome printer here..."

I don't think you realize how elitist your comments sound, at least to me. I'm unemployed due to illness and have had to scrape and claw for every dollar I've invested in 3D printing, and there's a chance I might, maybe, possibly could make it profitable enough that I could one day afford a true-blue (or orange) Prusa. It's certainly the dream of anybody who's struggled with bed adhesion or layer shifting or any of the million things Prusas do better than everyone else. As far as consumer printers go, they are incredibly high value for the dollar, fantastic machines and as I said before, the gold standard for bedslingers.

But don't you waltz into a conversation like this and declare that it's Prusa or nothing. Check your goddamn privilege.