Anycubic 4Max Pro Review

Is the Anycubic 4Max Pro any good? Should you buy it? Read our Anycubic 4Max Pro review for the features, specs and performance of this budget 3D printer.

Thinking of getting the Anycubic 4Max Pro 3D printer? Before you do so, read this review.

Despite the name, 4MAX is already familiar to many makers. Therefore, it would be a stretch to call this printer its Pro-version.

By and large, the 4Max Pro 3D printer is completely new, save for the Makerbot kinematics and a few details from the previous version.

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The printers has a print area of 270 x 205 x 205 millimeters.

Other features of the printer include a touch screen, a filament end sensor, print recovery after a power outage, a brush to clean the nozzle from adhering plastic, an air filtration system, a passive heat chamber and an automatic power off after printing.

Unlike its predecessor, the 4Max Pro comes fully assembled. Therefore, all you need to do is simply unpack it, remove the shipping ties and stops, screw the filament end sensor on the back with two bolts, hang the plastic holder in the same place, refill the plastic and send your first print job.

Aycubic 4Max Pro Features

General Specifications

Temperature

Software

Electrical

Physical Dimensions & Weight

What’s in the Box?

The printer is shipped with everything you need, and even a little more. In the box, you’ll find the following:

• 4Max Pro 3D printer
• All the tools necessary for assembly and operation
• A flash drive with a card reader
• A USB cable for connecting to a computer
• Side cutters
• A wide, sharpened spatula
• Tweezers
• Rubber gloves
• 0.5kg PLA plastic reel
• Belt tensioners
• A spare limit switch
• A hot-end assembly with nozzle, heater and thermistor
• A user manual

On the left side there is a port for connecting a USB cable, an SD card slot and a carrying handle.

On the right is a second carrying handle, a power cord connector with an on / off button, and an air vent for cooling the power supply.

At the back, there is a filament end sensor and a spool holder screwed on during assembly.

At the front of the printer, there is a plastic door that is held in place by two magnets, a tilted touchscreen and a power button.

On top, you can close the opening with a special plastic transparent cover. Closing the opening will allow you to  print filaments that require a heat chamber without any problem. The opening has been made in the cover for a Teflon guide tube.

Inside the printer is the power supply on the left and the air filter on the right in the corner.

There is also a blue backlight inside.

While backlights are good for enabling you to watch how your prints progress, blue light really doesn’t work well. We would have preferred yellow or white light.

Let’s take a closer look at the 4Max Pro 3D printer.

The 4Max Pro retains Makerbot kinematics, just like its predecessor, the 4Max. While the kinematics is not the fastest, it is  simple and reliable.

Each motor is responsible for its own axis, which is important in helping you detect the cause of any printing problems.

The X axis moves the carriage of the extruder left and right on linear bearings along two 8 mm shafts. The carriage is driven through the GT2 belt by a motor that is mounted on the left, and moves with the entire X axis.

The Y-axis moves back and forth, has 2 linear bearings on each side and two 8mm shafts synchronized by two GT2 drive belts on the left and right. One of the shafts is driven by a NEMA17 motor located on the back wall through another ring belt.

Finally, the Z-axis is a table that goes up and down on two 12mm shafts with large linear bearings. The axis is driven by a motor hidden in the bottom of the housing through an 8mm screw guide with a brass spring bushing.

The table is cantilevered, i.e., only on one side. This simplifies the design, but also has some drawbacks. For example the unsecured side may wobble slightly.

The table frame looks reliable. However, how much it wobbles and how it affects print quality can only be known after a print job is sent.

The heated 24-volt table consists of an aluminum plate on which Anycubic’s Ultrabase glass is installed. This glass has a special micro-pore surface on top.

Parts adhere well to the heated table. When the table cools down, the parts easily come out.

There is a small brush to the left of the table. The brush is designed to clean the nozzle from adhered or leaked plastic before printing.

The 4MAX Pro has a direct extruder, i.e., a motor with a feed mechanism that is mounted directly on the print head. The Teflon tube only acts as a guide for the plastic from the filament end sensor to the extruder.

The feeding mechanism is geared, increases torque and improves the accuracy of the plastic feeding.

Hotend
The heating unit is similar to that of the E3D V6, the same as on the Anycubic i3 Mega. The radiator is not very large. How well the radiator insulates the hot zone of the hot end from the cold one will be seen during the tests.

The radiator is cooled by a volute fan 5015. The Teflon tube runs from the feeder through the radiator and thermal barrier straight to the nozzle. The part is also cooled by a 5015 volute fan with a printed air guide on one side.

The whole extruder is hidden in a plastic casing and looks very much like the extruders of some Flashforge printers. All components are connected internally to the distribution board. There is also a loop from the extruder to the control board.

It is difficult to say how reliable the extruder is and how long it will last. However, you should be careful with it so as not to accidentally damage it.

The 4Max Pro has a 3.5-inch touchscreen located at the top of the bezel. The screen is convenient to use,  responsive, and all the elements are large enough not to be missed with your fingers.

We did not experience any false alarms when using the touchscreen.

In terms of functionality, the 4Max Pro touchscreen has nothing special. On the main page, the current temperature of the extruder and the table are shown. Below them are three large buttons.

On the Setup menu, you’ll find the following: Language Selection, Temperature Adjustment, Motor Shutdown, Print and Feed Speed, Status Screen, and Mute.

In the Tools menu, you’ll find: Axle Parking, Manual Axis Movement, Preheat for ABS and PLA, Turn Off Heating, Reset Parameters, Load / Unload Filament, Help, Description, and Turn On / Off Backlight.

During printing, all the necessary information is displayed on the screen. You can also check the Auto Shut Off checkbox on top, then after printing is completed, the printer will automatically turn off the power.

In general, the screen is good. It has everything you need.

However, there are no fine settings (accelerations, jerks, steps per millimeter of motors) in it. If you need these, you have to configure them by sending commands over a USB connection.

To get to the insides of the printer, you need to unscrew 8 bolts from the bottom. 4 of them are hidden under the glued legs.

The bottom cover is removable, and all electronics are hidden under it.

The brain of the 4Max Pro is the Trigorilla control board, which has removable stepper motor drivers. On the X and Y axes – TMC2208, on the others – A4988.

There are also three A4988 stepper motors installed. However, there is no motor for one of them.

The SD card reader module, the distribution board for the extruder loop and the relay module can each be taken out.

When it comes to cooling, there are some questions to be answered.

For example, on one side, the board is blown by a turbine fan, with air flow parallel to the board. It is unlikely that the air flow will be enough to cool the entire board and drivers.

On the other hand, a fan blows on the board, which draws warm air out of the heat chamber.

This is a strange design.

Anycubic suggests using an old version of Cura as a slicer. But it is better, of course, to immediately install and configure the latest version of Cura. The updated version has many times more settings and it lays much more optimal paths of movement when printing

For the printer to wipe the nozzle on the brush before printing, you can use several commands from the gcode file that came on the USB flash drive and add them to the starting gcode of the slicer.

G1 X-3 Y40
G1 X-3 Y10
G1 X-3 Y40
G1 X-3 Y10

These commands will cause the nozzle to travel back and forth across the brush twice before printing.

Anycubic 4Max Pro Print Quality

Let’s move on to examples of printing.

In the initial stages of testing the 4Max Pro, we faced some obstacles. Early tests showed that the printer has problems with retracts.

We tried various settings, including retracting the length from 2 to 6 mm and increasing speed from 20 to 50 mm / s. However, nothing helped. It became obvious that the matter was not in the parameters, but in the hotend itself.

Therefore, we decided to disassemble and check the hotend.

To remove the hotend, you need to unscrew 4 bolts, remove the plastic cover, disconnect the heater and thermistor from the distribution board, unscrew the bolt holding the radiator a little in front, and unscrew two more bolts to remove the unit with the motor and fans. Otherwise it will not be possible to pull out the wires of the hotend.

After removing the hotend, we realized that the Teflon tube, which should go straight from the feeder to the nozzle, is shorter than it should be. Moreover, the teflon tube is not cut straight off the nozzle side.

Naturally, during retracts, the tube began to move inside the hot end and a plug formed between it and the nozzle. To rectify the problem, we took a new tube, cut it straight so that it would fit snugly both to the feed mechanism and to the nozzle, and reassembled the parts. This solved the problem of the retracts.

Next, we tried printing a calibration cube with a lock inside. However, we discovered that the airflow also leaves much to be desired.

Despite the fact that the cube was turned by a complex slope directly towards the blowing outlet, the angle was curved up very strongly. Moreover, the corners on the letter Y were bent, which turned out to be on the opposite side of the blowing.

Blowing upset.

Below is an overview of the settings we used to print the XYZ 20mm Calibration Cube – Castle

• Plastic: Raise3D PLA black
• Layer: 0.2mm
• Speed: 50mm / s
• Temperature: 205/60
• Dimensions: 20 x 20 x 20mm

Since the printer is new, there are few alternative airflow models on Thingiverse that we could use.

We tried to print a model that is almost the same as stock, but slightly cropped at the bottom. For this session, we used Esun black ABS.

Here are the settings we used for the Max pro enhanced fan duct

• Plastic: Esun ABS black
• Layer: 0.2mm
• Speed: 50mm / s
• Temperature: 240/100
• Airflow: 50%
• Dimensions: 31.0×25.7×20.3mm

Although the new airflow is not much different from the original, the printing is better. The print is not perfect, but is perfectly acceptable. At least from the fan side, the slopes began to turn out smoothly.

We printed BEN, the floating BENCHMARK.

During printing, we blowed the front areas. Therefore, the front part turned out fine. However, on the back and on the slopes, the plastic lifted up a bit and defects appeared.

In general, the boat turned out well, except for the rear slopes and a strange thickening in the place where the deck finished printing. The railing, steering wheel, pipe and cockpit printed without problems.

Here are the settings we used to print BEN the floating BENCHMARK

• Plastic: Raise3D PLA transparent orange
• Layer: 0.2mm
• Speed: 50mm / s
• Temperature: 205/60
• Dimensions: 35x60x50mm

After successfully printing this floating boat, we decided to try to print something more complicated; the Coliseum

The Coliseum is a rather complicated model that takes a long time to print. The model has many small elements, slopes, and small bridges.

During printing, retracts are constantly occurring, and normal airflow is necessary. So, the model was a great test for the Anycubic 4Max Pro.

The final print turned out great. There is almost no issues with the model. There are no strings, and all arches, small elements, holes and bridges are printed well.

While there were some minor inaccuracies in places where the arches were closed, these were negligible. The model was printed very well.

Here are the settings we used to print the Roman Colosseum Completely Detailed See The World

• Plastic: Raise3D PLA orange transparent
• Layer: 0.12mm
• Speed: 60mm / s
• Temperature: 205/65
• Dimensions: 152.4х126.8х41.1mm

For the next experiment, we printed the Joker Model using PETG.

The 4Max Pro had no problems with Esun PETG. We increased The Joker model to 180 cm and printed it with supports.

The Joker turned out just fine. The surfaces are quite smooth and even, and all the details were well printed, including the hair. There were few strings on the head, which we easily removed with a knife.

Here are the settings used to print the Jocker bust

• Plastic: Esun PETG Magenta
• Layer: 0.2mm
• Speed: 50mm / s
• Temperature: 240/85
• Dimensions: 97.2×76.1x180mm

The 4Max Pro has a thermal camera. Therefore, it can print normally with plastics that tend to shrink, such as ABS or nylon. The printer coped with ABS without any problems.

We printed a small clamp comprised of several parts, which were then assembled into a single piece mechanism. Printed in black and red Esun ABS plastic.

We didn’t use any raft (backing) or supports.

Before printing, we applied PVP based glue on the surface. Thanks to the heat chamber, it is possible to use airflow and not have to worry about delamination and shrinkage. We put the airflow at 50%.

The clamp didn’t turn not perfect. However, it was pretty good. Moreover, it works properly. The details did not come off during printing, the corners did not bend, nothing separated.

The thermal camera works even though there is a hole at the top.

Here are the settings we used to print the TwistLock Clamp

• Plastic: Esun ABS black / Esun ABS bright red
• Layer: 0.2mm
• Speed: 50mm / s
• Temperature: 240/100
• Airflow: 50%
• Dimensions: 130x90x27.5mm

Nylon is another material that is very demanding on the ambient temperature. Only very small models can be printed with nylon on an open printer. If you want to print a more complex or larger model, it is bound to distort and the corners will start to bend.

Very often, nylon models come off the table altogether.

We tried printing  a nylon carabiner  with the 4Max Pro. We printed the model on a raft (backing) to improve adhesion. The table was previously greased with glue stick.

The carbine turned out well. Nothing came off or bent. The model had a few strings and in some places small lumps of plastic from them. But all this was easily removed with a knife. The Raft also detached easily.

Here are the settings with used to print the Carabiner

• Plastic: Esun ePA Natural (nylon)
• Layer: 0.2mm
• Speed: 50mm / s
• Temperature: 245/110
• Dimensions: 77.4×102.9×9.2mm

We also tried printing Flex-plastic with the Anycubic 4Max Pro. Here, we chose the Ninjatek Cheetah.

Ninjatek Cheetah is 95 Shore A. The material is not very soft and easy enough to print.

Unfortunately, we failed to achieve high-quality printing with this plastic on the 4Max Pro. We changed the speed, temperature, tried with retracts and without them.

The first model is a mini-wallet with compartments for plastic cards. It was printed to the end, the filament has never jammed in the feeder. But the surface quality is poor.

Here are the settings we used to print the TPU SLim Wallet

• Plastic: Ninjatek Cheetah blue
• Layer: 0.2mm
• Speed: 30mm / s
• Temperature: 235/80
• Dimensions: 9.7×69.3x99mm

The second model is a simple vase. It was printed to make sure that not too many carry-overs were causing the wallet under-extrusion. The vase was printed in a spiral mode, that is, it has no transfers, transitions between layers and retracts at all. From the floor to the top, the vase was printed in one solid line in a spiral.

Again, it can be seen that the plastic was fed unevenly. The line got thinner periodically. But again, the vase was pre-printed, the layers stuck together well. It even almost holds water, except for one place through which it seeps drop by drop.

Here are the settings we used for the Spiral vase

• Plastic: Ninjatek Cheetah blue
• Layer: 0.2mm (vase / spiral mode)
• Velocity: 30mm / s
• Temperature: 235/80
• Dimensions: 77.9×77.9x147mm

Print Quality Conclusions

Let’s start with the cons.

One of the major cons is the not very successful blowing of the print area; in the drain, it showed unsatisfactory results. A simple upgrade solved the problem. Quite a strange solution with the removal of warm air directly to the control board.

The Teflon tube in hot end is also too short and sloppily cut, i.e., it is uneven. The problem is also solvable, but it’s not even serious.  It is a pity that it was not possible to get the 4Max Pro to print normally with flex. Perhaps we could have solved the problem by tweaking the print settings.

What We Liked

The printer performed well. It is quiet, fairly fast, and capable of printing a decent range of plastics, including PLA, PETG, ABS, and Nylon.

However, it is not advisable to use higher-temperature plastics on 4Max Pro with a stock hot-end. With long-term printing above 250 degrees, the Teflon tube begins to burn out, while releasing harmful substances.

Anycubic 4Max Pro Review Conclusion

The 4Max Pro is shipped fully assembled and ready to print in minutes. It has a fairly large print area and a full-fledged thermal camera. It also has useful and convenient features such as filament end sensor, power outage recovery, touch screen, air filter, auto shut off after printing, and so on. The only thing missing is Wifi or LAN connection.

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