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Tenlog is a 3D printer brand from China that specialises in IDEX (dual independent extruder) printers. I’m going to introduce you today to the TL D3 Pro, which is an IDEX printer with a print size of 300x300x350mm.
I got this machine from Studiolab39, which is a French TENLOG reseller approved by the manufacturer. They sell this Tenlog D3 Pro printer from 490€, including delivery, 2 years manufacturer warranty and after sales service in French, the machines are stored directly at the reseller’s, so there are no customs fees… and the machines are inspected before shipping!
This is the second IDEX type 3D printer I have tested so far, Tenlog has undoubtedly become a reference for this type of machine.
Main features of the Tenlog D3 Pro :
– Dual direct drive head for Dual/Mirror/Duplication printing
– Silent motherboard with TMC2208
– 300x300mm heated platen (with glass plate)
– End of thread sensor
– Touch screen
– Resume printing in case of power outage
This printer is capable of printing PLA/PETG/TPU/PVA/ABS..
Unpacking the printer :
The machine is well packaged, and the various parts well protected, this machine is partially assembled, so it should not take very long to fully assemble, and should be suitable for beginners.
It is delivered with 2 small spools of PLA (250g each), and a set of accessories (scotch tape for the tray, spatula, SD card…), the instructions are in English (I would have appreciated to have it translated into French). At first sight, the external components of the machine seem to be of good quality.
If you have chosen the “Luxe” version (only available from Studiolab39) you will receive this additional kit:
Contents of the “luxury” kit:
– 2 high-end heating blocks
– 2 thermal breaks
– 2 PTFE tubes (capricorn) for the radiator
– 2 high-end nozzles
– 2 silicone socks
– 2 anti-backlash nuts (1 for each Z axis)
In addition to this deluxe kit, the machine will be fully assembled and tested in the workshop before shipping.
Assembly of the printer
The first step is to fix the printer gantry to the printer frame with screws, this procedure is really very simple.
The second step is to fix the 2 heads E1 (left) and E2 (right) on the X axis, using 4 screws for each head. Once fixed, we will have to proceed to the wiring, by fixing the connectors (VGA type) on the heads, I was quite surprised to see this type of connectors, but it has the advantage of being easy and quick to connect.
Note: you will see on some of my test photos/videos the end of filament sensor cables “dangling”, I simply didn’t plug them in as I was in too much of a hurry to try the printer 😉
Adjusting the platen before the first print
Before launching your first print you will need to adjust the platen, this type of printer is not equipped with a self-levelling sensor, so you will need to do this adjustment with a sheet.
Go to the “Tools” menu, then “Leveling”, you will then be able to move the head to the corners of the plate and adjust the height using the knobs under the plate.
Concerning the E2 head, I did not need to touch it, but it is possible that it is not at the same height as the E1 head, in this case you will have to adjust the height of the E2 nozzle using a key.
Adjusting the alignment of the 2 heads
If you want to print in Dual (double colour), you will have to make another adjustment, the alignment of the heads for the X and Y axes, you will find on the SD card a calibration cube, which will allow you to see if the heads are well aligned, for my part they were not aligned at all, here is the first print “before calibration” made.
No need to panic! This is quite normal, to adjust the heads it will be necessary to modify 2 values on the printer screen, the X2 and Y2 values, I advise you to modify the values from 0.10 to 0.10
I also used another STL file to check the alignment.
On the picture below it is my second to last adjustment print (I forgot to take a picture of the last one…), you can see on it that there is still a slight offset.
You should get a final result like this, with the 2nd colour perfectly aligned inside the cube. You may need a bit of patience to achieve this alignment, which you can do only once, I assure you!
The printer is now ready! By the way, if you can’t do the alignment right away, you can still make “Single 1 colour” prints, or use the mirror/duplicate mode, this alignment will only be used for double colour printing.
Slicer configuration for the Tenlog D3 Pro
You can use the slicer of your choice for this machine, you just have to declare the presence of 2 extruders. I use Prusa Slicer, which has the advantage of being perfectly optimized and intuitive for multi extruder printers.
Here are the settings for my profile, based on a basic profile “Creality CR-10”, for which I modified 2 values, namely the number of extruders (changed to 2), and the shrinkage length to 1mm (for both extruders).
You may be wondering how to proceed if you want to print in mirror mode, or in duplication mode?
It’s very simple, you just need to integrate a single model in your slicer, the printer will directly manage the 2nd head, but you will have to align the model on the left side of your tray (as if your tray was twice as wide).
You will have to go to the “Print Mode” menu on the printer to change the mode.
First print with the Tenlog D3 Pro
And here is the first print made with the printer, using the filament supplied with the printer! The result is relatively clean.
For the second print, I change filament, this time using Creality White PLA filament, and SILK Gold Stronghero3d filament.
The result is much better than with the filament supplied with the printer.
Concerning the glass tray, I’m not a big fan of this type of tray, most of the time you have to use glue to get a good grip, so for my next prints I’ll use a polypropylene mamorubot tray, it’s the same size as for the Creality CR-10.
Here are some other prints made with the Tenlog D3 Pro printer, using PLA, Silk, PETG, and also TPU filament.
Overall these prints are very clean.
The TPU printing went perfectly with this machine, the 2 heads being in direct drive, this makes printing flexible filaments much easier. For PETG I had to add some glue on my plate, for the other filaments PLA and SILK, no problem either.
To conclude, would I recommend this 3D printer?
Multi-extrusion printing is not always easy, especially with printers that have only one head, as the nozzle can get clogged more easily than with a single extrusion print. With this type of IDEX printer with independent dual heads, the settings may seem more complicated, but once set it will work much better than a single head printer!
So yes I would recommend this Tenlog D3 Pro printer if you want to do double extrusion printing, and if you have an interest in printing small models in duplication mode (see mirror mode), this can be handy for some prints that you want to do in series.
The machine is relatively quiet when running, you can only hear the fan, and when the printing is finished all the fans stop, so the machine is totally silent when switched on but not printing, which is not always the case with the competition.
The graphic interface of the screen is clear and easy to understand.
The only complaint I have is that the machine has a glass plate, I would have preferred an ultrabase plate, or a magnetic metal plate, which will cost about 20 euros to upgrade.
I have not yet installed the “luxury” kit, which should also improve the printing results.
As for the Studiolab39 dealer, with whom I had the opportunity to exchange, they are very professional and attentive to customers, they give good advice, so I can only recommend going through this French dealer who knows this product perfectly, rather than going to a Chinese dealer to save a few Euros.
