Ender 3 V3 SE Setup & Best Practices

1. Getting the Ender 3 V3 SE

The Ender 3 V3 SE is the most affordable and reliable entry level printer in 2024. With a low cost of ~ $220, this is the Honda Civic of 3D printers - nothing fancy but affordable and works remarkably well with little maintenance.

Created by Creality, it's ancestor, the Ender 3 Pro first launched in 2018. In Version 3 SE they've perfected all of the annoying issues in the original Ender 3 Pro including:

Bed leveling issues and uneven printing - now automated for perfectly even printing each time
Filament tube clogs and print quality - now directly fed into motor
Self assembly mistakes that caused print failures - now mostly preassembled and can be built in 5 min

It is recommended you purchase this printer from Amazon as their great customer service policy protects you from any potential out-of-the-box defects and shipping delays that you may experience buying from printer manufacturers directly.

2. Build + Setup the Ender 3 V3 SE

Step #	Step Description	Example
1	Unboxing the box from the correct side will look like this, with the main components of the printer (gantry and the base) facing upwards
2	Take out the base and the gantry as shown, along with the bag of 6 thin silver screws with washers
3	Insert the gantry into the printer base and use a spare piece of the printer foam to prop up your print on its back exposing the bottom of the printer. Insert the silver nuts into place to lock in the gantry position with the printer bed
4	Find the bag of two tiny black nuts, use them to fasten the base of your gantry to hold the motor base in line with the printer base. On the other side of the printer, Find the screen wires and the corresponding screen holder.
5	Use the included Alan Key to tighten the screen onto the holder with the pack of hex nuts. The same nuts are used to attach the filament holder to the top of the printer.
6	Run the main printer cable from the back and through the opening between the moving axis and the top of the gantry as shown. Do NOT run the cable under the moving nozzle axis as the cable will interfere with prints and is at risk of melting. Do NOT run the cables above the gantry as the tension from the nozzle pulling down on the cable across the top of the gantry may cause irreversible damage.
7	Once you've correctly passed the cable between the moving axis and the top gantry, plug it in vertically into the extruder motor. Take this time to also secure the back of the cable onto the moving axis with enough tug to so that the nozzle movements do not pull on the cable.
8	Find the x and y labelled white wires to plug in the two stepper motors controlling x-axis movements and y-axis movements respectively.
9	Ensure your voltage is set properly. If you are in North America your printer should be set to 115V otherwise it may fail to start or auto level. Check voltage for other countries Remove any other foam pieces or objects preventing the bed from moving freely.
10	Power on your printer. You should see a language selection followed by an automatic routine the printer will start to run for calibration of the nozzle. If this or any following calibration/print doesn't start, double check your voltage settings or power supply in previous step
11	Auto bed leveling will start automatically, if it doesn't you can reactivate it or it means your bed may already be leveled. The values represent deviation from your printer nozzle. Green values and blue values indicate small gaps and means your printer is OK. In the case of yellow or red gaps check for any foreign objects or noticeable hardware defects.
12	Open your filament roll and use the included cutters to cut off any dented or deformed filament snip the end at a 45 degree angle for easier insertion into the nozzle. Pushing down on the filament valve to open it, slide the filament into the nozzle gently until you can't push anymore.
13	Locate the included USB/SD card and insert it into the printer. Click Print and look for test files on the SD card in (.gcode) format. Note that (.stl) or (.3mf) files you may have downloaded won't work directly on your printer. They need to be converted to (.gcode) format through a separate program called a slicer. You can skip this step and find most of the popular print files already in (.gcode) on MatterManifest Catalog
14	Place your printer on a stable surface (shaky tables will cause vibration lines in your prints) away from pets and kids. Nice ventilation or near an air purifier will reduce any fumes or smells during printing. (Optional) Consistent ambient temperature and humidity will maximize the shelf life of your filament and prevent it from absorbing moisture over time.
15	During printing, click Tune to finely adjust the z-offset to apply a consistent increase or decrease in distance between your nozzle to each point on the printbed. This setting can address initial layers Printing in mid-air or loosely sticking (Fix by decreasing z-offset) OR Rough surface areas and patches (Fix by increasing z-offset) For more details on bed leveling check out Perfect First Layers

3. Getting More Files

Once your printer has been set up and you've completed your first print, you will naturally be on the look out for more things to print. Your printer can only take (.gcode) format files for printing. There are TWO ways to get more (.gcode) files

3.1 Download .gcode files from MatterManifest (1 Step)

As the only marketplace that provides auto-sliced .gcode files, you can select and print any of the items in our catalog and get the .gcode file directly without needing to slice yourself. Our goal is to simplify the printing experience and allow beginners to just get printing as quickly as possible. Therefore, our catalog supports almost all Ender 3 printers including the V3 SE and automatically slices and converts common files to (.gcodes) as well as properly orienting and plating the files for printing.
Browse our catalog to find things to print

3.2 Learn how to slice yourself (6 Steps)

The current way, involves searching for and downloading your own 3d models, and then running a Slicer program to convert 3D Models into (.gcode) format is much more involved and requires a lot more time and work. There are tons of resources online already that will teach you about how to slice. A general overview of the process is

3.2.1 Start by visiting one of the following sites to find 3D Models:

3.2.2 Download and run a Slicer Program (We Recommend Prusaslicer)

3.2.3 Load your 3D Models into your Slicer

Go through the onboarding flow for your Slicer where you will select your printer and material
Use a default print profile and drag all of your 3D Models into the slicer

3.2.4 Ensure orientations are correct for supports

Ensure all of the models are properly oriented to prevent overhangs
Enable supports as needed (Tree supports with hexogonal fill recommended)
Enable brims as needed (8mm)

3.2.5 Plate multiple models to reduce the number of prints you have to run

Combining multiple STLs onto a single print bed will reduce the number of individual print files you need to download and run
Group files together with similar height, similar settings for supports, brim and quality

3.2.6 Slice your files and check for overhangs, bridges, gaps or warnings

Once you click Slice, you will be shown information about the (.gcode) including print warnings, print time, material used and bridges or overhang warnings.
If all of these checks pass, load the output .gcode files onto your SD card through your computer and plug it into your printer.

Tag - Assembly