Finally we got the new ELEGOO Saturn 3, which includes several very interesting improvements over the ELEGOO Saturn 2. The ELEGOO Saturn 3 is a high-resolution resin 3D printer that offers excellent print quality and ease of use.
ELEGOO with its Saturn range thanks to its great relationship between quality, price, and size has always been a benchmark in this segment of machines. Being a printer that allows you to perform jobs of almost any size, as well as perfect for both new or advanced users or looking to renew their current machine.
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ELEGOO has once again improved its excellent previous Saturn 2 model, improving several of its technical aspects, especially the resolution of its screen, going to an impressive 12K resolution.
In addition, it has launched two versions of this model, the Saturn 3 and 3 Ultra with some significant differences between them.
Below you can see a table of its characteristics, along with those of its sister Saturn 2:
Saturn 3 Ultra | Saturn 3 | Saturn 2 | |
---|---|---|---|
LCD resolution | 12K (11520×5120) | 12K (11520×5120) | 8K (7680×4320) |
LCD size | 10″ | 10″ | 10″ |
Pixel Size (xy) | 19 x 24 μm | 19 x 24 μm | 28.5 μm |
Print Size | 219 x 123 x 260 mm3 | 219 x 123 x 250 mm3 | 219 x 123 x 250 mm3 |
Velocity | up to 150 mm/h (with ELEGOO Speed resin) | up to 70 mm/h | up to 70 mm/h |
Protector LCD | Tempered Glass 9H | Tempered Glass 9H | Tempered Glass 9H |
VAT Film | ACF | PFA | PFA |
Light Source | COB + Retractive Light Source | COB + Fresnel Collimating Light Source | COB + Fresnel Collimating Light Source |
Kinematics Z | Double linear guides with ball rod | Double linear guides | Double linear guides |
Touch screen | 4″ IPS capacitive color, 800×480 resolution, new UI | 3.5″ resistive color | 3.5″ resistive color |
System | Linux | Single-chip System | Single-chip System |
Laminated Software | ChiTuBox, Lychee Slicer, Voxeldance Tango Formato GOO | ChiTuBox, Lychee Slicer, Voxeldance Tango Formato GOO | ChiTuBox, Lychee Slicer, Voxeldance Tango |
Other | WiFi Air Filter Exclusive design | Air filter | Air filter |
As always with ELEGOO the Saturn 3 and 3 Ultra come perfectly packaged, including everything necessary for the start-up and maintenance of our printer.
Today if you want to get the ELEGOO Saturn 3, or Saturn 3 Ultra, you will only be able to do it with pre-reservation through their website and take advantage because they have an interesting discount for those who opt for pre-reservation!!
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We loved the ELEGOO Saturn 2 its performance and quality, so our expectations with the Saturn 3 were very high, especially with the great jump in resolution of its screen.
In our case the friends of ELEGOO provided us with the Saturn 3 version, remember that the Saturn 3 Ultra version has some changes with respect to the Saturn 3 model that we will detail later.
We’ll start with the design of the machine… the Saturn 3 has an identical design to its younger sister. In the case of the Saturn 3 Ultra is where we find novelties in this aspect with dark colors that, and for us, give it an imposing presence.
In the cinematic section again, we have differences between the Saturn 3 and the Saturn 3 Ultra. While the first has the system used in the Saturn 2 of a double linear guide with standard rods that leave a consistent set.
The Saturn 3 Ultra has improved by adding a rod with bearings that provide even more precision and consistency, which allows us to reach the promised speeds of up to 150mm / h.
ELEGOO continues to bet, for the Saturn 3, for the use of PFA instead of the traditional FEP that basically improves light transfer, has greater thermal stability, and will reduce adhesion stress, significantly minimizing possible failures in our prints.
And we can assure you that it works perfectly!!
Again, the Saturn 3 Ultra differs in this section by using ACF instead of PFA. This new material improves even more by reducing the adhesion tension, something that, together with the rest of the improvements introduced in the Saturn 3 Ultra, can allow us up to about 150mm / h using the ELEGOO Rapid resin.
In both models we have an imposing printing platform in size and finish. With engraved laser patterns that improve adhesion and minimize failures during our prints.
Again we have some differences between the Saturn 3 model that has the typical fixing/leveling ball joint of 2 anchor points. Meanwhile, the Saturn 3 Ultra, has a different system with 4 fixing/levelling screws.
One of the big improvements in the Saturn 3 series is the inclusion of a 12K display with a 10” screen format similar in size to the Saturn 2. That increase in resolution to 12K allows us an impressive 19 x 24 μm pixel size xy… If we have not been confused!! Use a rectangular pixel size instead of the typical square that we will talk about later in detail.
Important today that both models of the Saturn 3 have 9H tempered glass, replaceable, which will protect our screen by increasing its useful life in the event that we have an accident.
Another relevant aspect when evaluating a resin printer is its light source. In this case, ELEGOO has chosen for the Saturn 3 to continue with the FCSL system, already used in the Saturn 2, which through the use of Fresnel lenses improves the diffusion of UV light.
On the other hand, the Saturn 3 Ultra has improved in this aspect using a system similar to the previous one, but adding a refractive surface to improve the distribution of light, baptized as COB + RLS, also improving the dimensional accuracy of our parts.
We also have a connector to install the included air purifier that uses activated carbon that will reduce the typical odors of resins. On the other hand, and as we already had in the Saturn 2, we have an opening in the hood to install an external purifier / heater.
In this case, ELEGOO has launched its Mars Mater Air Purifier, which is sold separately, and specially designed for use with its printers. This allows to significantly reduce the odour and has a purification efficiency of up to 95% TVOC… VOC with the acronym for Volatile Organic Compounds or volatile organic compounds that are emitted in the form of gases and that can be harmful to human health.
While the Saturn 3, again, uses a screen and interface similar to the Saturn 2… in the Saturn 3 Ultra we have a new 4 “capacitive IPS screen, with a resolution of 800×480 and renewed interface.
Continuing with the Saturn 3 Ultra and its innovations at the technology level will probably give us indications of where future models will go.
On the one hand, as we have already mentioned, we have a totally different screen to the Saturn 3 probably related to the change of the internal system and electronics. The Saturn 3 Ultra model has new Linux-based electronics that have 4 GB RAM and that will provide more processing power, allowing a better experience of use and fluid management of the printer.
Another specific feature of the Saturn 3 Ultra is its WiFi connectivity. This function, which we are already beginning to see extended among resin printers, will allow us to transfer our models to the printer wirelessly and forget about going with the USB from one place to another in addition to being able to monitor the status of our printer remotely. In this case, the Saturn 3 Ultra has a WiFi module compatible with 2.4G and 5G networks, with transfer speeds between 6-10Mbps.
With all the improvements mentioned, faster electronics, improvements in the kinematics with bearing rod and the new ACF for VAT the Saturn 3 Ultra together with the new ELEGOO Rapid resin promise truly incredible speeds of up to 150mm/H.
The start-up of our Saturn 3 or 3 Ultra is extremely simple following a few simple steps that we can find in the included manual.
In the video that you can see below you have the steps to perform, in we list below the steps that you can also find in the printer manual:
We already have our printer ready to print, inside the USB we have a typical test to verify that everything is correct.
If you own Saturn 3 Ultra you can review the Elegoo assembly video:
Once we have our test done, we advise you to start performing the exposure tests to adjust the times of our resin for our ELEGOO Saturn 3.
Correctly calibrating the exposure time is a critical factor to ensure that our parts are printed without problems and with the highest quality. There are mainly, there are other values a little more advanced that we do not advise you to modify initially, two very important values to take into account:
After all this explanation, it is important that we invest a little of our time to find the exposure time of normal layers. For this we can use different types of tests that you can find in our SLA calibration guide. The problem is that it is a tedious method and thanks to UVtools we can improve enormously!!
You can download UVtools from the following link, although the interface is not very intuitive we will guide you in the steps to create a multiple exposure test and with just one impression we will be able to test the range of exposure times we want saving time.
The first step to perform is to load the test file that is included in our USB from the File/Open menu, the ROOK.goo file that is the one we are looking for will be found in the ELEGOO SATURN 3 Rock Model fro Printing Test folder of our USB.
In the UVtools window we can see a thumbnail of the piece in the upper left, in the center part a preview of what the screen of our printer would do that we can control with the slicer that we have on the right side to move between layers, etc …
The next step will be to open the calibration tools to select the exposure test. You will also find many other tools to adjust your machine but in our case we are going to focus on exposure tests.
The new window that UVtools will open will be where we will configure our multiple exposure test. Let’s review the different sections.
We go to the second section where we can configure the options of our test:
Finally we will go to the interesting section, the configuration of multiple tests:
Once the configuration is finished, click on Exposure time finder at the end of the window to generate the test!!
Once generated it will return to the initial screen of UVtools where we can see our test and with the control on the right we can see the process that our printer will perform. Now you just have to go to File/Save as… and save our generated test on the USB and print it!!
Initially we do not advise you to make more adjustments to your laminator profile, in the case of being an advanced user and knowing moderately the resin printers you can try to adjust the speeds. Basically, these adjustments of printing speeds will result in a reduction in printing time, between 5 to 20% depending on the settings.
In case you want to make these advanced adjustments, always try to make small adjustments. Normally, with very fast speeds it can affect the flow of resin and affect the level of detail of our parts.
Another factor with which we can play is the antialiasing to disguise that staggered effect between layers. Personally, and taking into account the resolution/accuracy of the Saturn 3, it is better to print at a lower layer height (0.03 suits you very well… With the increased print time that comes with it) or use the minimum value of Antialiasing to keep details to the maximum.
Once adjusted our Saturn 3 it’s time to see its full potential. Although we are already accustomed to the print sizes provided by our Saturn 3 we have to tell you that it is a joy to be able to have so much size … either to be able to make larger projects or simply to be able to print a greater number of pieces at once, saving especially in printing and post-processing time..
In our tests we perform the tests from both Chitubox and Lychee, our preferences in this aspect is to use Lychee for its workflow, tools, and interface … We believe that it is a software that if we use our printer assiduously is worth the cost of its license for the saving of time when processing our projects and, at least in our case, the failure rate when printing has been reduced to practically 0.
On the other hand, and although we are still doing it, ELEGOO attaches a license of VoxelDance Tango which is a laminator for resin printers compatible with our Saturn 3. If you are interested in using this slicer we advise you to read this video guide of ELEGOO for the use of this slicer:
One aspect that we have not emphasized much so far is that ELEGOO has developed a new and open-source laminate format called GOO and that they use the Saturn 3 and in the future their new machines. But you may wonder… That I care about?… Well, it should and a lot!! On many occasions the different brands take out their proprietary formats without being free, so, at least in the first weeks/months of their launch, we see limited support by the laminators to these machines.
This intelligent move by ELEGOO, together with the support of the different developers of laminators, will allow that practically from the day of launch (if not before) our favourite laminator has support for our machine, avoiding having to make “inventions” to be able to use it.
In order to get the most out of our ELEGOO Saturn 3 and its 12K panel it is essential to use figures with a level of detail at the height of the… for our first test we opted for a Bestiarium Miniatures model, specifically from its Goblin Grotto collection using the Gobling King figure. If you are fans of this theme of figures we advise you to get the collection because they have an incredible quality of details, in addition to having pre-supported files for Lychee.
As you can see in the photos, and using a normal ELEGOO resin, the level of detail is excellent… Remember… To get the most out of our machine it is necessary a correct adjustment of our exposure times, use quality resins, and some pieces/figures that have good detail in their designs.
For our second figure, we continue with another Bestiarium Miniatures model, specifically from its Beastman collection and its imposing Grimscar the Beastlord.
Again the level of detail of the figure is exceptional, making our Saturn 3 and its exceptional 12K screen look. If you look at the textures of the breastplate, the skin, the details of the ropes and the accessories are excellent.
We also decided to carry out other tests using another studio with high-quality works from Loot Studios, specifically the figures of Oah’Numarc (the Dark Rider) and Ungor Boom (Battlefire General).
With respect to Oah’Numarc (the Dark Rider) is a figure with some complexity since it has many internal holes and thin layers that make its impression complicated. The level of detail in both the frame and the costume of the figure are fantastic.
Finally we have a figure, Ungor Boom (Battlefire General), with great details both in the skin and in the clothing that again our Saturn 3 made look excellent.
To have a somewhat percentage of success in our impressions we give you some small tips of aspects to take into account that can significantly affect our impressions:
We recommend some solutions to the most common problems that we can find in our impressions:
One of the first things we would like to assess is whether we need the Saturn 3 or the Saturn 3 Ultra?
As we have already indicated the differences between both models are important in many aspects (WiFi, ACF in the VAT, improved kinematics with rod with bearings, electronics and improved menu management screen, external aesthetics) which although they will give us a plus in the case of using intensively or to produce parts in our printer at the moment of truth will not mean a significant improvement in quality.
In this case we would recommend the Saturn 3 Ultra if for you it is important the intensive use of the machine, the speed of production and to be able to remotely manage the printer … and obviously if since you invest in a quality machine like the ELEGOO Saturn 3 the price difference is not a big budget problem.
Continuing in relation to the improvements between the Saturn 3 model and the Saturn 3 Ultra we would have liked to have added functions such as automatic resin filling or automatic leveling … both functions worthy of a top of the range like the Saturn 3 Ultra.
ELEGOO has made a great improvement in this revision of its Saturn range, especially in the case of the Saturn 3 Ultra… a versatile machine for its print size and of course and thanks to its 12K resolution we will obtain exceptional quality.
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