Today we bring you a review of one of the best SLA machines in its range, the ELEGOO Saturn 2, a complete review with many interesting improvements over its sisters ELEGOO Saturn and Saturn S.
If the ELEGOO Saturn was a real success, perhaps the Saturn S despite its improvements did not enjoy as much diffusion… ELEGOO with this Saturn 2 has created a machine that will be very interesting both for new users and those who want to renew or upgrade their current machines.
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As we saw in the analysis of the ELEGOO Mars 3 4K a few weeks ago ELEGOO has once again improved its excellent previous Saturn model, improving many of its technical aspects and especially a careful exterior appearance with a much more stylized design and in line with the ELEGOO Mars 3 4K.
But not only have they applied aesthetic improvements, but they have also improved many more aspects that we summarize below and that we will explain in more detail:
Today if you want to get the ELEGOO Saturn 2 you will only be able to do it with a pre-booking through its website and if you are one of the first 1000 you will have a special price.
They also have a very attractive kit where the printer comes, 5 PFAs, and a spare metal VAT tank.
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Below we list the official characteristics (extracted from the manufacturer’s website), of the ELEGOO Saturn 2 printer:
As always, ELEGOO pays special attention to both the packaging of all the components as well as including everything necessary, except resin, for its start-up and maintenance.
Although we have been with our ELEGOO Saturn 2 for a few hours, we can tell you that we are more than in love with it.
Although we are used to the design of our ELEGOO Mars 3 4K when we unboxed it, in addition to the impressive size of the machine, we loved the new style that has been given to this Saturn 2.
The new 3.5″ color touch screen with a beautiful, simple, and functional interface, as well as including the power button on the front, make it very comfortable to use. In this aspect, something that we did not like so much is that the location of the USB is on the side instead of the front, which seems a little more comfortable to us.
Another interesting novelty is the use of PFA instead of the traditional FEP, which basically improves light transfer, has greater thermal stability, and will reduce adhesion stress, significantly reducing failures in our prints. We can tell you that for now, it has been perfect in our test impressions.
We also liked the metallic VAT and its quite comfortable fastening system that allows us to handle it safely. It also has a maximum resin level mark and adapted corners to easily empty the tank.
And going into more technical details we cannot forget the major improvements included in this ELEGOO Saturn 2 10″ display, 9.1″ screen in the Saturn S… and with an 8K resolution of 7680×4320 and 28.5 microns in screen size. pixel and an impressive contrast ratio of 380:1, 4K and 4098×2560 with 48 microns in the case of the Saturn S, we can assure you that you will be able to obtain some pieces with amazing detail.
Another improvement introduced is the FCSL system, which by incorporating special Fresnel lenses improves the diffusion of UV light.
Continuing with the screen and something that has always had enough controversy since the launch of monochrome screens is that they lack protection. ELEGOO listening to its users and given that the cost of a screen is not trivial, it has opted for the installation of replaceable tempered glass with H9 protection that can save us on more than one occasion from any resin leak.
ELEGOO has not neglected user safety by adding a connector, similar to a USB but be careful… at 24v, to be able to connect the ELEGOO activated carbon filter that is included and that will significantly reduce odor and certain particles that are released from the printing process.
In addition, ELEGOO has added an opening in the hood of this Saturn 2 to be able to install an extractor/heater, which is undoubtedly very interesting to improve air filtering or printing conditions, which are sometimes very important when obtaining prints. optimal.
The installation process of the ELEGOO Saturn 2, as usual in this type of machine, is extremely simple.
Once we take the Saturn 2 out of its box and beware that it is a bulky machine, we just have to follow a few simple steps.
We already have our printer ready to print, inside the USB we have a typical test to verify that everything is correct. Once we have our test done, we advise you to start carrying out the exposure tests to adjust the times of our resin for our ELEGOO Saturn 2.
We have to tell you that if already with the Saturn/S the printing surface was a joy to carry out large projects or take full advantage of our projects with small parts with a greater number of them, thus optimizing the time and cost of printing… with the extra size of the Saturn 2 we can think a little bigger.
Without a doubt, all the improvements introduced in this Saturn 2 are noticeable, which again is not a mere change in external design, but rather provides refreshment in the technical characteristics that provide greater quality/definition in our printed pieces with its 8K screen and its 28µm.
Another noteworthy aspect on which we are carrying out different tests has to do with the pixel size ratio, 28µm in our Saturn 2, and the layer height.
We believe that on machines with these resolutions and if we are looking for pieces with a lot of detail, the optimal layer height has to be similar to his pixel resolution, which in this case we are testing with 0.03-0.025mm to try to find the balance between speed and maximum quality.
On the other hand, a common problem in these machines of these sizes, and quite critical, is the adhesion of the pieces on all the available surface. In this aspect, three aspects are critical: correct leveling and tensioning of the PFA/FEP, of course, correct configuration of our printing parameters such as exposure/speed, and finally, the conditions of our resin and distribution of UV light.
The ELEGOO Saturn 2 has worked by introducing improvements in some of these aspects such as the usage of the PFA, the use of FCSL and its fresnel lenses that allow a uniform distribution throughout the printing area, and finally the inclusion in the hood of the option of to be able to incorporate, for example, extractors/heaters for optimal printing conditions.
We will shortly update this section including pieces from different projects that we are currently working on to have real examples and be able to compare them.
ELEGOO has thought of everything and together with the ELEGOO Saturn 2 launched the perfect cleaning and curing station for it.
The kit includes two bases to be able to use it as curing and cleaning station independently, something that is ideal for not having to change components at such a critical moment as the post-processing of our pieces… that is… we will need enough space 😄
A couple of interesting things about this cleaning and curing station that we loved have been the inclusion of four UV bars for curing, we have two vertical ones and one at the base that considerably improves curing our pieces… and an external room to be able to cure our pieces internally which is a sensational detail.
You can find them in pre-order also on the ELEGOO website here.
Alongside the Saturn 2, ELEGOO has launched its range of 8K specific resins that promise incredible detail to get the most out of our machine.
You can find them in pre-order also on the ELEGOO website in two versions, standard and water washable.
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